London 2012 Paralympics

[JD]

I just noticed that there wasn't a thread for the Paralympics, so I thought I would fix that. It's been driving me crazy how little attention the Paralympics have been getting, so I've been trying to rectify that every chance I've gotten.
So who else has been watching them?
I think my favorite events have been the swimming, foot and wheelchair races, and the sitting volleyball. My favorite athlete was Jessica Long.

[Steven]

I've been watching the 1-hour recap sessions each night on Sportsnet and I'm continually amazed at the ability that these athletes exhibit. The track races for the visually impaired athletes are fascinating to watch. For those that didn't catch any of those races, the competitors have a guide with them the entire way. So that means that they need to train and compete with someone who has the same stamina and technique over the 100/200/1500/etc race.

It's disappointing that there wasn't more coverage of the Paralympic Games though. Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium (as CTV/TSN/Sportsnet like to call themselves) couldn't even be bothered to put up a Schedule and Results page like they did with the Olympics.

[Deckerd]

It's over. It was discussed in some threads but now it's over. It was magnificent and drew far more people to the Paralympics than ever before. In a bit of pure theatre Oscar Pistorius won the 400m in style, after being beaten in the other distances by people who only took up blade running because of his one-man, magnificent achievement.

[JD]

I know it's ending, but I still thought it deserved it's own thread. I do agree about Pistorius's race, that was a good race.
I also agree about the races for the visually impaired, and I was glad to see that the guide's got medals too. They have to train just as hard as their partner, and definitely deserve the recognition.
EDIT: I didn't get to see all of the Closing Ceremony, but what I did see I thought was awesome. I love the fact that they did include some disabled performers during the ceremony.

[Deckerd]

The Paralympic committee are considering stripping the TV rights from NBC since their idea of coverage was 4 one-hour highlights.

[Zion Ravescene]

I saw what I could of the Paralympics on Channel 4. The opening ceremony with Stephen Hawking and Ian McKellen was astounding, and I also enjoyed the closing ceremony with Coldplay.

The sporting events themselves were utterly thrilling. So many great moments, but my personal highlights were the Women's 34-point 4x100m Medley Relay swimming final, which had one of the closest finishes I've ever seen in a swimming final, as well as the image of C7 table tennis gold medallist Jochen Wollmert consoling losing Brit Will Bayley. It was also amazing to see former Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi's gold medals in the handbiking events over at Brands Hatch.

And of course, the athletics finals involving Oscar Pistorius, notably the 400m where he blew away the competition, and the 100m where Jonnie Peacock stole the show. The home crowd's reception to Peacock, Ellie Simmonds, Sarah Storey and David Weir (the atmosphere during the latter's track finals reminiscent of that during Mo Farah's finals) was truly heartwarming too.

Despite the (necessary) adverts, good on Channel 4 for bringing the events to UK screens with the enthusiasm that we saw. Their "Meet The Superhumans" promo, released in the weeks before the Paralympics, captured the tone and mood perfectly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKTamH__xuQ

[Gryffindorian]

I was reading an article last week about how little coverage or attention the Paralympics were getting. I would've liked to watch some of the events, but NBC didn't even have a viewing schedule. So it's like they never took place at all.

[JD]

They showed four one hour recaps on NBCSports last week, and then on the 16th NBC will be showing a either one hour or hour and a half special. THey did have swimming, athletics, rugby, table tennis, both footballs (soccer), fencing, and basketball streaming on the IPC website which is where I watched them.
I was amazed just how little attention they got here in the US. In the entire time they were going on the only thing I saw that even mentioned the Paralympics was a short piece on Bradley Snider on CBS This Morning last week. I hope what Deckard said is true, and they give the rights to someone who will actually give them the attention they deserve.

[Gil T.Azell]

Saw one highlight the medal winner (Swimming?) seemed to be standing on her own and jumping,

But way to go Alex Zanardi, that is inspirational.

[JD]

Some of the athletes with a higher classification are able to get around without assistance. And some of the artificial legs used aren't real obvious from a distance. When I saw Jessica Long walk out I couldn't even tell she had artificial legs until she took them off, and I had to see him jump three times before I finally realized that the Polish high jumper had an artificial leg.