Legacy Games.

Sunday and it must have been the Paralympic Legacy Games!

I ordered my tickets many months back and had the choice of any of the three days. I could have seen Bolt, Farrah or Ennis-Hill on the Friday and Saturday but I wanted to see Weir, Cockroft and Peacock, just as I did a year back.
Some things are life changing. Loss of a limb or brain damage are obviously life changing but the effect of the Paralympics 2012 was life changing for the athletes and for some of the spectators. Their lives changed because all of a sudden we had a new breed of athletes that we had ignored (by and large). All of a sudden they had the "luxury" of being able to train as athletes, they were finally recognised for their abilities rather than disabilities and for me, the generic, blinkered UK cross section of the public, my perception has been permanently changed. I watched the athletics from Birmingham and France on TV and the Parathletics World Championship from Lyon as well. I did enjoy the Parathletics more but that could be because Hannah Cockroft, Johnnie Peacock and the legendary Richard Whitehead, were all racing, that and the warm fuzzy feeling that the Paralympics left me with, a feeling that I still get today when I think about it.
So, I took both my daughters, I had selected seats roughly in the same area as last year, on high facing the finish line. As it happens, it was a stroke of genius, yes, I would have been up close and personal with the athletes if I had chosen lower level seats but high up we were covered from the sun and the rain.
I won't cover all the events but sufficed to say, this time I took my zoom lens so I have some good shots.
Hannah Cockroft was invincible and most definitely the darling of the stadium.

                                                   Hannah Cockroft and fellow racer Mel Nicholls:

Richard Whitehead is a warrior, winning from impossible positions, as usual. A man that is planning to run from John O'Groats to Land's end for charity: http://www.richardwhiteheadrunsbritain.com/
I have to say that the atmosphere was absolutely electric for this race, it raised the hackles on my neck and was possibly my favourite moment of the day.

 

As with every athletic meet, the big event is the 100m and para athletics is no exception. We were all waiting for Johnnie Peacock, poster boy of the Paralympics, Olympic and World Champion, the expectations were high.

The atmosphere was incredible, the cheers deafening and the pressure must have been immense. Having beaten this field last week, England expected...

It was an amazing race, gripping, exciting and tense. Peacock came in third with a PB, beaten by two World record times. Do you know what? It really didn't matter, it was such an exciting race that we really didn't mind that our golden boy lost, we whooped and cheered for them all.

 And then we had that moment of clarity, when the superhumans become human again and we are faced with the reality of disability. As I was at the games, I missed the TV interview that explained this photograp, but from what I understand, at the Paralympics this young fellow was disheartened because he couldn't keep up with his friends. He has since been fitted with a blade and this picture brings home the enormity of all of this, the para athletes, the achievements and the human moment when a child of four years old has a disability that becomes cool. Shocking to even say that but these athletes have made it so.

And so on to the final event, the great David Weir and the mile. He was the favourite and is very much loved by the crowd. He was planning a World Record and the pace was to be fast. He didn't disappoint, this wasn't a race, it was a procession. Yes, the World record fell and we were in the presence of greatness, a man that is as honest as he is good at what he does, a rare combination. A quiet man with a love of his family and home that has been thrust into the spotlight and it is obvious that he must enjoy it in some way but he is so beautifully unnatural when a microphone is thrust in his face and comes across as a bit of a grump, he just endears himself, very naturally, to the great unwashed, he is quite simply one of us, the People's Champion.

Finally, just one more thing. I found Brent Lakatos to be instantly likeable. Watching him win in the World Championship on TV was a joy, what a great competitor and to see him win again on Sunday was wonderful. His wife is Britain's long jumper, Stefanie Reid and the two make a wonderful couple.

So much to say but so few words that mean anything to say it in. I really hope that other nations get behind their para athletes because it is here to stay and if they can just embrace it, they will be rewarded with something that will out run their expectations, bravery, disability, athleticism and most importantly, normality. It is all so perfectly normal that it all makes sense.