Boris Johnson has made his tube announcements telling commuters to ‘Get Ahead of the Games’ and the Olympic Torch relay has run through a town near you. London is getting ready for the 2012 Olympic Games –
… and The Paralympic Games!
The history of Paralympic Games started on the lawns of Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948 … now the name of one of the London 2012 mascots, I might add. This year it is going to be part of ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ and a spectacular sporting event in itself. It goes without saying that this is due to some of the world’s most astounding athletes that compete in these games.
Tanni Grey-Thompson with Paralympic Heroes by Cathy Wood
Adapted from The True Story of Great Britain’s Paralympic Heroes by Cathy Wood
On Top of the World, Tanni Grey-Thompson
Tanni Grey-Thompson only raced to win. Being born with spina bifida was an irrelevance, a lens through which others looked and, perhaps judged her. It was never the way she viewed herself. During her career, significant life events were meticulously planned and managed so as not to interfere with her chances of success.
Just nine weeks after giving birth to her daughter Carys in 2002, Tanni lined up for the London Marathon and won.
For Tanni, racing in London so soon after Carys’ arrival was an easy decision. ‘That is what you do,’ she says, adding, ‘If you are going to do something you do it properly.’
Still, it might have been an even more welcome win if, at Athens 2004 when Tanni won her historical 11th Gold Medal in the 400m, Carys had looked up from her ice cream for just a second.
In the immediate moments after winning, Tanni looked into the crowd to spot her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, wearing a ‘Go Mammy’ T-shirt. It didn’t take long to locate the familiar figure of the toddler in the stands. Carys was eating an ice cream and she had absolutely no interest in the significance of what her mother had just achieved. ‘She barely watched it,’ Tanni says.
Kids, ey?
Adapted from London 2012 Paralympic Games The Official Book
The Golden Girl of British Paralympic Swimming – Ellie Simmonds
Ellie Simmonds – from London 2012 Paralympic Games The Official Book
Ellie has enjoyed a meteoric rise to become one of the world’s top S6 competitors. The 17-year-old began swimming at the age of five and was inspired by seeing fellow British swimmer Nyree Lewis win two gold medals at Athens 2004.
Ellie is a key athlete to look out for in this year’s Paralympic Games. She is the second youngest British Paralympian ever, and in Beijing 2008 she took gold in the 100m and 400m Freestyle – S6 and earned a place in the history books as Great Britain’s youngest-ever individual medallist at the Paralympic Games.
These are some incredible achievements, without even mentioning that in 2008 she was named as the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and in 2009 when she was just 14, she became the youngest person to be appointed with an MBE! Will she be hoping to break her own records this year?
But of course, there are athletes who, unlike Ellie and Tanni, were not born with their disabilities.
Adapted from The True Story of Great Britain’s Paralympic Heroes by Cathy Wood
It Could Happen to Anyone – Tom Aggar
Tom lived to play sport. As school turned into University, he played in second row forward for Warwick University’s First XV.
Whilst at a party at University, Tom stepped outside and into an experience nothing could ever have prepared him for. He was met by complete darkness and an eerie silence: it was pitch black. He took a few moments to adjust his vision and then headed towards the garden. And then he did what thousands of us have done in our lifetimes and thought nothing of: he scuffed his foot. Only in Tom’s case it caused him to fall forward and down a 12-foot drop onto the concrete drive of the block of flats next door, which were at a lower level to the house.
Tom’s friends had left the party thinking he had headed home alone. After two hours, Tom called the ambulance. His lower back was broken and he was paralysed from the waist down.
Just weeks into Tom’s rehabilitation Tania, his physiotherapist, made a prediction. ‘One day,’ she said, ‘Tom Aggar will go to the Paralympic Games.’ Aggar laughed the suggestion off.
Tom went from strength to strength, getting fitter and fitter. He went back to university and finished his degree, then discovered a pioneering type of rowing for those unable to use their legs. It was from there that Tom was noticed by Paralympic Squad and the rest is history. Tom won Gold in Beijing 2008 becoming Britain’s first-ever men’s Paralympic Rowing champion.
For these athletes the Paralympic Games not only represents the pinnacle of their careers but an achievement of a lifetime. This Year The London 2012 Paralympic Games promises to be an all-star event.
Carlton Books Blog 