The Paralympics – An amazing three days

I have spent the last three days soaking up the atmosphere of the Paralympic games. I was very fortunate after stalking the ticket website for about a week to secure tickets to Excel, athletics in the stadium and swimming in the Aquatic centre.

Friday I literally spent the enter day at Excel (9am – 7:30pm!). I had a day pass which entitled me to jump in and out of the different courts as much as I liked. I was able to watch sitting volleyball, judo and powerlifting. In some bizarre way I really liked the powerlifting! No idea why, it’s not exactly a fast paced sport, but it was really interesting. There was one devastating moment when a GB powerlifter didn’t make his final lift and just lay down on the floor and cried. It was heart breaking.

I also loved the judo, once I got the hang of the rules. It is very exciting when the athletes manage to flip their opponent onto their backs scoring an ipon (100 points and automatic win!) It is especially amazing when you remember all the Paralympic judo players are visually impaired.

The day ended with some very exciting sitting volleyball, very similar to able bodied volleyball however the net is much lower and players must keep one butt cheek on the ground at all times. There was one awkward moment when one of the players limped off court and I cried out “oh no he is injured!” Only to have my friend Bec remind me he is a paralympian and was missing his right foot. Whoops! I seriously got so into the game I had forgotten.

Saturday morning was spent in the Aquatic centre watching the swimming heats. This was really exciting as I was able to see lots of Aussies performing well. And again, the sheer determination of these athletes is phenomenal, very inspiring. The picture below where it looks like a guy fishing in the water is actually a photo of a tapper who taps the visually impaired athletes to let them know they are approaching the wall.

Saturday afternoon we were waiting outside the staff entrance to the velodrome for a friend when Jody Cundy the GB paralympian came out. He met up with a reporter and cameraman from Sky News to do a sneaky interview. Sneaky because Sky is not the official Paralympic broadcaster and is not allowed to get interviews. Broadcasting officials put a stop to the interview pretty quickly and while they argued with Sky News I got a picture with Jody. Unfortunately the reason I recognised him was because he was the cyclist who had to be removed from the Veledrome the day before for swearing and carrying on after he was denied a restart. He was very gracious and friendly though and I somehow switched into ridiculous fan mode. I think I actually said something like “ooh your medal is so heavy.” How original.

Sunday, my last day in the Olympic Park was spent at the Athletics. I am so glad I got to see the stadium. Highlights included watching Australia win gold and singing the national anthem, watching GB win gold and hearing and seeing the crowds reaction, seeing the Paralympic flame and cheering the paralympian who was two laps of the track behind the rest of the pack but still managed to finish the race. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

I feel so fortunate to have seen both the Olympics and Paralympics. Absolutely unforgettable.