Superhumans

After my tribute to the Olympians, it seems only fair to honour the Paralympians for providing a fortnight of excitement, entertainment and inspiration that equalled if not excelled the previous games, or the ‘warm-up’, as it was billed in the adverts.

It was officially the biggest and best Paralympics in history, with record numbers of countries, competitors, ticket sales and TV viewing figures so high that coverage was increased after the initial events. Once again, I was sucked in from the beginning and got so involved in the days that followed that the final event moved me to tears.

The opening ceremony literally brought us the moon on a stick, with Stephen Hawking speaking typically wise, moving and inspirational words from the stage beneath it. I had noted his absence during the celebration of our nation’s greatest achievers at the Olympic opening, and was so glad to see the Einstein of our times given such a big part in his rightful place – as a paradigm of triumph against adversity, mind over matter and living, awesome proof that disability definitely doesn’t equate to debility. As he said himself:

“We are all different. There is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit....However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.”

We were then treated to a celebration of enlightenment and empowerment, scientific discovery, books, and a spectacular amateur production of The Tempest starring a very non-amateur Shakespearian actor in Sir Ian McKellen, whose Prospero encouraged the wheelchair-bound Miranda to rise and break through a glass ceiling. It was all tied together with the outstanding music and circus skills of disabled performers and the unofficial British mascot that is the umbrella, which symbolised everything from the Big Bang to a sailboat and from the globe to the newly discovered ‘God’ particle.

Though the Channel 4 coverage lacked the slick professionalism of the BBC, the games themselves were every bit as emotive as their able-bodied counterparts and perhaps even more inspiring and motivational for all the extra effort and determination required to compete in them. Films and interviews about the athletes’ experiences put the self-pitying, sympathy-seeking sob stories of the X-Factor to shame and again redefined and set higher standards for role model status. Just as importantly, they educated the world about various physical conditions and allowed everyone to see the incredible ability behind the disability.

Team GB did us proud with valiant efforts, records and medals across the board, and gave us new heroes in the shape of David Weir, Jonnie Peacock, Sarah Storey and Ellie Simmonds amongst many others. It was also great to watch Brazilian gold medallists such as runner Alan Oliveira and the fantastically colourful blind sprinter Terezinha Guilhermina emerging ahead of the Rio games in 2016.

And the moment that made me cry? South African  ‘bladerunner’ Oscar Pistorius’ extraordinary defence of his 400m title on the final night, after a week that had seen him lose his titles in both the 200m and 100m and lose his head in displaying some uncharacteristically diva-ish behaviour (for which he later apologised) following his first defeat. His victory was thoroughly deserved, not only for his astonishing performance in the race, but also for the years he has spent fighting the corner and raising the profile of disabled athletes worldwide. He has personally shattered the glass ceiling between the Paralympics and Olympics for all those who follow him and is a true champion of the games in more than one sense of the word. He may not be 'the fastest man on no legs' any more, but wherever his career goes from here, his past successes and wider accomplishments should never be forgotten.

Again, the only disappointment was the closing ceremony. Although it brought us a gothic ‘festival of fire’ which was admittedly visually spectacular, it ultimately turned into a Coldplay concert. Am I the only person who just finds them overrated, bland, whiny and dull?! But even that didn’t detract from the much greater performances seen in that stadium over the last two weeks, or a ceremony that paid tribute to the athletes and volunteers who truly made it possible. Head of the IPC, Sir Philip Craven’s impassioned, down-to-earth, humorous, endearingly northern-accented and above all uniting speeches came as a delight after all the stiff-upper-lipped formality, excessive patriotism and occasional thunder-stealing of certain British politicians and public figures. After the handover, Rio did a great job of generating excitement for their sporting carnival in 2016. Hopefully by then, further developments in medicine, technology and humanity will make it possible for even more nations to provide the training, equipment and support necessary to compete and advance the Paralympics even further.

If we had a lot to learn from the Olympic games, then surely the Paralympics had even more to teach us. Though the flame has now died out for the foreseeable future, the fire lit by these games will hopefully burn on. There is much more progress to be made, plenty more ceilings to be smashed, attitudes to be changed and spirited Paralympians to make it happen. It can all be summed up with some more great advice from Professor Hawking:

“There ought to be something very special about the boundary conditions of the universe, and what can be more special than that is there is no boundary… And there should be no boundary to human endeavour…Look up at the stars, not down at your feet.”

Regardless of mental or physical ability, we could all take something from that.

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