The End of a Sensational Summer

The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games in London yesterday evening has marked the end of the fantastic summer of sport this year. Rio have a tough act to follow, but I’m sure the city will step up to the mark in hosting the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games.

The ParalympicGB athletes have done fantastically, finishing third in the medal table behind Russia and China.

	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	95	71	65	231
2	Russia	36	38	28	102
3	United Kingdom	34	43	43	120
4	Ukraine	32	24	28	84
5	Australia	32	23	30	85
6	USA	31	29	38	98
7	Brazil	21	14	8	43
8	Germany	18	26	22	66
9	Poland	14	13	9	36
10	Netherlands	10	10	19	39

But the Paralympics is about much more than just medal tables and national glory, the whole ideal of the Paralympics is to try an advance disabled people. What began in Stoke Mandeville, the UK in 1948 as a sporting event for British soldiers injured during WWII has flourished in recent years to become the world’s second biggest sporting event (after the Olympics). The Paralympics in London have been the biggest ever; it is the first time the event has sold out – the organisers selling 2.7 million tickets over the course of the games. 164 countries participated in the games, 18 more than in Beijing and it was the Paralympic début for 14 of those countries.

The hope is that these games will change people’s attitudes to disability, no longer perceiving those with disabilities as a drain on society. These athletes have experienced more difficulties than the rest of us; they will likely have experienced bullying and for many of them that were not born with disability will have got their disability in a traumatic experience.

In reality I believe that these games have taught us all something; the only disability is one of confidence. With confidence you can do anything, regardless of race, religion, gender or physical ability. We are all human, and we all deserve a chance.