Thursday 13 September 2012

11 Days of Pure Gold


As the curtain falls on the London 2012 Paralympic Games, our Executive Director, Jon Morgan, shares with us the highs and lows of  the ‘greatest ever Paralympic Games’.

The 4.45pm train back from London to Swansea was an oasis of relative calm following 11 days of unbelievable sport in what surely is now regarded as the 'greatest ever Paralympic Games'.

There have been times over the past two weeks when I have wanted to climb to the top of the Orbit tower in Olympic Park and yell ’I told you so’ in reference to the sheer brilliance and remarkable theatre that is paralympic sport. Of course my urge to do this is now dampened given the way the Games has awakened a new generation to what paralympic sport is all about. There has been almost daily front page coverage on national newspapers, where previously paralympic sport has been consigned to a paragraph between the weather and the crossword, more than 1.3million tweets with the word ‘paralympic’ used and a demand for tickets that even the canniest of ticket touts couldn’t have satisfied.
Aled Sion Davies winnig his gold medal is
sure to be one of the highlights of the games.

My own emotions have swung violently during the Games from over-whelming joy, to at times, utter despair as we have followed the journeys of our athletes. There have been moments when I have wanted to scream ‘did you see that’ as an athlete has taken their performance to a new high, and other times when I have quietly thought to myself ‘I can’t believe this is happening!’ But that’s the thrill and unpredictability of high performance sport. If it were scripted it would be boring and in that sense the Paralympic Games are no different to any other competition.

From a performance perspective, the Games have been successful from both a British and a Welsh perspective. ParalympicsGB won 120 medals, 18 up on our total in Beijing. Our own Welsh athletes winning 15 medals, across more sports (athletics, swimming, table tennis and cycling) and with more individual medallists, 11, than in Beijing (8). True, ParalympicsGB did slip to third in the overall standings in the medal table but I view that as positive sign that competition is maturing – and anyway, I know we will bounce back in Rio!
Rhys Jones (centre) is one of the
athletes on the Road to Rio.

But in 4, 8 or 12 year’s time I suspect it won’t be the number or colour of the medals that we’ll remember. Medals and medal winners will only part of the London story. What will burn really bright in the memory of everyone who has been touched by these Games will be the remarkable performance of the athletes and the statement they have made about their individual ability. The tennis player who flicked his feet to serve the ball, the blind long jumpers that silenced an 80,000 seater Stadium so that you could hear the sound of their assistants clapping to help them stay on the runway or the Thai boccia player who mesmerised spectators with his level of skill, not to mention his memorable victory celebrations. These athletes and the many that have gone before, since the first Games way back in Stoke Mandeville 1948, have strived not only to be the best they could be, but also to ensure that their Games receive the recognition and respect that they so readily deserve. On this occasion I think they have achieved it.....

oh yeah.....and I did tell you!
 
Follow Jon Morgan on Twitter: @JonnyMogs