Last night’s spectacular opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in east London, showcasing the talents of scores of disabled performers, marked the official beginning of the Paralympics. An 80,000-strong audience watched the extravaganza, entitled Enlightenment and overseen by Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry, which gave a nod to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights during its journey through British history.
Over the next 11 days more than 4,000 athletes from over 160 countries will take part in their various events. The ParalympicsGB team will be looking to match the success it enjoyed four years ago in Beijing, when it came second in the medals table to hosts China, and our home hopefuls will be in the thick of the action from the outset; from cycling to judo.
As with the Olympic Games, despite the excitement there are some concerns. Not least the shadow hanging over Paralympics sponsor Atos, which has been accused of wrongly denying benefits to disabled people. Suggestions are that the French firm’s assessors are classifying seriously ill and disabled people as “fit for work”. The sporting drama must also not detract us too far from the fact that, at a time of drastic public spending cuts, disabled people in the United Kingdom remain among the most vulnerable. And while the policing effort might not be quite on the same scale as the Olympics, the event still brings with it significant challenges and a potential threat to peaceful protest.
Nevertheless, the next 11 days are there to be enjoyed. Let’s see the Paralympics, and its competitors, not as the clichéd stuff of "inspiring" and "courageous" heroes. Of course, many of us will be moved by the personal stories of those competing. But this is about elite sportsmen and women who have had to overcome disabilities – both physically and mentally – before even contemplating taking part in sport, before going on to perform truly brilliant feats of physical achievement far beyond us mere mortals. London’s greatest party isn’t over yet – let the games begin, all over again.
