[visiongallery set=72157631470181676]
The soundbite that has accompanied this year’s Paralympics has been “inspire a generation”. I hope it does! The excellent coverage by Channel 4 has raised awareness of the huge problems the athletes have overcome to qualify, and compete in such a high profile competition, accompanied by the pressure of an 80,000 seat stadium, live international TV streaming and the pressure associated with this level of sport. It sends a message to all that anything is possible. It has been the first high profile Paralympic games and the best for that reason.
I was lucky enough to secure tickets for a day in the Olympic park seeing the early Athletics session and Goalball. Inside the stadium there was the blind triple jump, an event which requires silence in an 80,000 seat stadium, no mean feat. This is never absolutely achieved, which makes the challenge for the athletes even harder. They are relying on claps from their guide to keep them straight and tell them where the line is. This is on top of the terrifying prospect of running full pace blind.
Despite the likely confusion around the complex grading system, one thing stayed the same – the support the crowd were giving. Every time an athlete in the triple jump missed, crossed the line or made a mistake there was a significant “aww”, and every time they were successful there was incredible cheering. During the track events the cheering followed the competitors around the stadium, and reached deafening levels on the home straight, particularly when a British competitor was in the race.
A brief word on Goalball if I may. It is played on a pitch around two-thirds the size of a tennis court with goals that are five-a-side football height, and the full width of the court. The aim of the game is put the ball in the opposition’s goal. There are three players on each team, they all have vision problems, but to equalise the varying levels they are all blindfolded. The ball has a bell inside it so the players can hear it. To make the game possible, the ball has to bounce in certain quarters in the pitch, and there is tape on the floor so the players know where to be on the court. It is a good game to watch, although by its nature, it is a stop-start game. The skills they must use to know where the ball is and serve in the direction of the other goal are impressive. In fact, I want a go myself and I am not too confident.
The Paralympics just shows how impressive all athletes and particularly disabled athletes are. It shows Britain and the world that anything is possible, and should “Inspire a Generation”. Hopefully it will inspire more than one!