Para Olympics Open

A spectacular show to open the biggest Para Olympic games ever that includes 7,000 athletics from 164 countries.
The opening ceremony titled "Enlightenment" was opened with a big bang and narrated by Prof Stephen Hawkings. His voice boomed across the stadium, urging us to "look up to the stars and not down at your feet".
Other highlights included, Sir Ian McKellen reciting lines from The Tempest, and the big apple crunch. As a tribute to Newtown. Inflatable apples floated above our heads, a giant apple with a wheelchair bound artist rolled into the stadium and 62,000 people in unison each took a bite of an apple.

The cauldron was lit byBritain's first ever Paralympic gold medal winner Margaret Maughan, who won an archery gold in 1960.

A stunning evening and not a single ageing rock star in sight!

Punk Mandeville

Wenlock and Mandeville were created as offical mascots for the Olympic games. Wenlock for the Olympics and Mandeville for the Para Olympics. They have their own webpage.

There are dozens and dozens of the mascots around the city. Mandeville has 25,000 internet friends and comes into his own now when the Paralympic start next week. I can't help but think this punk version looks like Boris Johnson ... might be the hair!

The Next Party

The Olympics have finished and the athletes are all on their way home. Although I hope some do decide to stay a bit longer and see the rest of the country.
We're now preparing for our next big party next month, the Para Olympics. A number of events are planned to mark the arrival of these games.
Here a group of able-bodied kids are learning the rules and skills of one of the sports we will be watching, wheelchair basketball.