It was the largest gathering of elite athletes with physical and intellectual impairment ever seen. The result was a Paralympic games to remember.
Oscar Pistorius contemplates his 400m race Image: Peter Brill |
The London 2012 Paralympic Games, which followed just two weeks after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, have been praised as the greatest Paralympic Games ever held.
More than 4,000 athletes with a wide range of impairments decended on London to compete in sports ranging from club throwing to cycling, boccia to baskeball, shooting to sitting volleyball.
The motto of both sets of Games had been "Inspire a Generation". The competitors, support teams, media and most of the spectating public agreed that the Paralympic Games had, indeed, been inspirational and this was reflected in the closing speech of the Head of the London Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG Lord Coe - himself a successful Olympian.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, in a speech at a post-Games Athletes Parade for British competitors went as far as saying: "“You produced such a paroxysm of tears and joy on the sofas of Britain you probably not only inspired a generation, you probably helped to create one as well." Prime Minister, David Cameron, added: “People are thinking about sports and disability in ways they never did before.”
Amongst many highlights of the Games, which include many world records being broken, was the very last medal to be won on the track by 'Blade Runner' - South Africa's Oscar Pistorius - in the T44 category men's 400m, having been beaten in the 100m and 200m events.
Pistorius, who lost both of his legs as a child, is currently the only runner to have ever competed in both Paralympic and Olympic games (where he also reached the semifinals of the 400m). But, by far the most successful individual Paralympian was Australian swimmer Jaqueline Freney with staggering eight golds medals.
A wheelchair basketball Paralympian tests his seat. Image: BMW Group |
China's powerful performance across all the disciplines - helped by nine months of closed training for the entire squad - lifted them to the top of the medal table with 95 golds and 231 medals in total. Russia's 36 golds placed them in second place, just ahead of Great Britain's 34, although Team GB recorded a 120 medal total, 18 more than Russia.
There was also plenty of state-of-the-art technology on display to help the athletes. As well as carbon composite prosthetics for runners and cyclists, the wheelchair racers (including Britain's David Weir who won four gold medals) displayed the very latest in lightweight racing technology, whilst the basketball and rugby teams used wheelchairs built to withstand massive impact during matches.
Automaker, BMW, official vehicle supplier for London 2012, was one of several companies that helped to design ultra-light, contoured wheelchair seats used by many competitors.