Can the world catch Britain’s Paralympians?
As global Paralympic stars gather in London for International Paralympic Day, the man in charge of the British bid for medals tells Channel 4 News he is “confident but not complacent” about success.
International Paralympic Day, in Trafalgar Square, is bringing together the world’s top Paralympic athletes ahead of next year’s Games.
Britain’s Paralympians finished second in the medals table in Beijing beating many of the world’s sporting superpowers including America and Australia.
From cycling to swimming the likes of Sarah Storey and Ellie Simmonds topped podiums: 42 gold medals were won in total.
Speaking at International Paralympic Day, London 2012 chairman Seb Coe said: “In this country the Paralympic movement is our history – it was something we created in 1948 and I almost feel the Paralympic Games are coming home.
“I want to see a sold out Paralympics and noisy passionate fans really enjoying Paralympic sport and I want people who may never have thought about Paralympic sport to find out more.”
Other nations are ‘catching up’
Given Britain’s past success in the Paralympics there is undoubtedly pressure on the athletes competing next year.
Chief Executive of ParalympicsGB, Tim Hollingsworth, told Channel 4 News he is “confident but not complacent” about 2012.
He said: “We have to maintain our performance but other nations are catching up.
“It’s clear to me they’re putting in a lot of energy and resource to try to make sure they’re the best.”
“The competition in 2012 will be stiffer than ever before.”
He admitted there is pressure on the British team to perform on home turf but said athletes would not react to doing well in 2008 by worrying about 2012.
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‘We want to sell out venues’
The “blade-runner”, Oscar Pistorius, is taking part in International Paralympic Day, just a week after competing against able-bodied runners at the 2011 World Athletics Championships.
Organisers say Trafalgar Square has been turned into the world’s biggest Paralympic event outside the Games themselves.
There are demonstrations in various sports including wheelchair rugby, power lifting and sitting volleyball.
Nine-times Paralympic swimming champion Chris Holmes, who is now Director of Paralympic Integration for London 2012, told Channel 4 News the aim of the day is to focus as much attention as possible on the Games ahead of tickets going on sale on Friday.
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He said: “We want to sell out all of our venues, we want to have packed stadia full of people not just cheering on the atletes, but roaring them on to gold, silver and bronze medals.
“Anyone lucky enough to get a ticket will see world-class sport in world-class venues.
He added: “It’s the world’s second largest sporting event two weeks after the world’s largest sporting event.”
More than one million people have registered interest for Paralympic tickets which go on sale on Friday, 9 September.