Paralympics

Paralympics – I am a convert… And why am I surprised?

 I feel the need to hold my hand up and confess, until 2 weeks ago I never watched sport, except for Wimbledon. I believed sports bored me to tears. So, there was I ready with my Netflix box sets to get through the wall-to-wall tv coverage of the 2024 Olympics and expected to do the same with the Paralympics. Sport? anything but sport! But then I found myself watching tough guys in wheelchairs smashing the hell out of each other simply to grab a ball and drag it over to their respective finishing lines. Boring? Not a bit. It surpassed my memory of watching Rollerball back in the day.

After that game I was hooked: we are now in the final week of Olympians showcasing GB’s best at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and I can’t get enough. I have a hunch it promises to be as phenomenal as the 2012 London Paralympics for team GB and it’s not yet over! A growing medal tally of 72, including 38 golds, placing us second in the medal table to date.

Standout moments for me include an extraordinary gold medal win by David Weir in the men’s T54 1500m. This will be his 13th Paralympic medal which guarantees his legendary status in Paralympic sport. Our Wonder Women, Charlotte Henshaw clinching gold in the Para Canoe final and Sarah Storey gaining a record-breaking 19th Paralympic gold medal, in the cycling road race; and our men’s basketball team is in the final against the USA, having beaten Germany last night. It’s also lovely to witness the Games providing a platform for new talents to emerge. Ellie Challis, just 19 years old, took home silver in the S3 50m Backstroke, becoming one of the youngest medallists in British Paralympic history and the 13-year-old star Iona Winfrith became the youngest British Paralympic medallist this century with her Women’s SB7 100m Breaststroke silver. And then the youngsters wowing us all in the skateboarding event – I know I am waxing lyrical. But that is a convert for you!

As we head into the final weekend, there are still plenty of exciting events to catch. Here’s what I will be watching:

Para Canoe Finals: On the edge of my seat watching Charlotte Henshaw defend her title in a run of finals.

I will be glued to YouTube as we embark on the Basketball Finals: Great Britain take on the USA in the Men’s Gold Medal Match. There’ll also be finals in Para Athletics, Para Cycling Road, Para Equestrian, Para Judo, Para Powerlifting, Para Swimming, Para Table Wheelchair Basketball Finals: The concluding battle for gold, set to be a thrilling match.

How am I going to fit it all in specially the last track and field events, including the men’s T54 marathon final?

And of course – the Closing Ceremony: I am confident the Games will conclude with a spectacular closing ceremony, going on the opening outstanding show of French creative arts which would have easily slotted into a Cirque du Soleil performance! The metaphorical depiction of tensions between disabled and the able-bodied mainstream was beautifully depicted – conflict, resolution, then finally inclusion.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games have genuinely surprised the “I don’t like sport. Jane Campbell”. Either my mate Tanni has bewitched me, or this year’s Paralympics has demonstrated loud and clear yet again, that post pandemic, we must never again be viewed as the expendables!

Thank you, Team GB, for reinforcing my deep faith in our (disabled people’s) shining strength, resilience, determination and human excellence! Los Angeles 2028 – – airlines will surely let disabled passengers fly in their wheelchairs by then? I’ll be there if they do!