National Paralympic Day

It is one year ago since the London 2012 Paralympic Games started. To celebrate the day, The Liberty Festival took place at what is now called the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Along with the festival in the park, were four Paralympic sport events in the Copper Box. I managed to get tickets for the Wheelchair Basketball to see Team GB play Spain.

Before the basketball, I had time to explore the Liberty Festival outside. There were opportunities to play some of the Paralympic sports, plenty of food stalls and a stage, for music. I had got there a little late to enjoy most of the events on show, but was in time to see the finale of the show, which was a performance by a group of people who performed at the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies. The group known as POD “Post Olympic Dancers”, who apparently meet once a week to help them all keep in touch, and keep fit. Fittingly for National Paralympic Day, they did a signing performance of “I Am What I Am”:

Then it was time to get in to the Copper Box, which at the time of the games a year ago, this was christened “The Box That Rocks”. A year later, that saying was still holding true. There was still an hour before the Wheelchair Basketball game between the women of Team GB and Spain. The music was loud, and the near full  arena, was buzzing – they even managed to get everyone to take part in a slow motion Mexican wave. Hilarious to watch, and take part in.

As for the game itself, was a real spectacle. The speed they move across the court is amazing, and the tactics were very interesting. Plenty of blocking, some of which did seem over the top, but fun to watch.

The ball at this point, was at the end of the court.

There was a few mishaps, but on the whole, all the players played with a smile on their faces.

The first half of the game, the teams seemed to be evenly matched with Team GB holding a slight lead. However, in the second half, the game changed, and Team GB were on a roll (excuse the pun). In the third quarter, they raced to a 18 point lead, which they held until the end of the match. Despite the game becoming more of a formality, with a big lead, the Spanish team still were competing, and even right at the end with seconds left, they were still employing the blocking tactics they had all through the game.

I thoroughly enjoyed the two hours the game lasted, and I would like to see more. It was brilliant.

Finally, a picture of the victorious Team GB: