The London 2012 Paralympics

[canis]

Brogan there is much more than adapting the stadia going on, new background infrastructure, new volunteers, new equipment needs fitting that couldn't be in place for the normal olympics, to be honest it is surprising how quick they turn it all around when you know even half of what needs to be done.

 

[sushifiesta]

The events that a lot of the stadia are showing are changing as well, so I guess different pitch sizes, goals etc. need to be accommodated. Not to mention a lot of clean up from the Olympics I imagine.

As for the volunteers like canis mentions, I have a friend who is a volunteer and he has been to London a couple of times in the past week to collect uniforms, passes, attend training sessions etc. so that's a big task too.

 

[Galahad]

Enjoying the Channel 4 preview shows with John Snow (well, actually in spite of him, but that's another story). Every athlete comes with the most incredible story and I've heard some very refreshing perspectives - certainly challenged my expectations.

 

[Greenlantern101]

As part of my joyous insomnia filled 'sleep' last night I had a thought.

Why isn't the paralympics part of the main olympics ? They have separate events for men and women, why not extend the categories to paralympic men and women as well. Why do they need a separate event 2 weeks after everything is finished, why is it not all inclusive. Women competed for the first time from every country, why can't paralympions compete at the same time as well, were all humans after all.

 

[canis]

Greenlantern101 it has been proposed a number of times in the past, but it purely comes down to the logistics of the whole thing, the fact that the various venues need to have different facilities available to both sets of athletes, and in some cases there is equipment that needs to be present for the paralympics which cannot be present for the Olympics due to the sporting regs they run under.

I believe that combining the two events was originally an idea for London 2012 but this was dropped very early on due to the huge additional costs it would involve (just for a start you would need to double the size of the Olympic village to accomodate all the athletes). I actually don't think it is anyone being seperatist over the issue, just that the investment required to manage to run them both at the same time would be nearly double what it is to run them in the way they are now...

 

[Brogan]

Which brings me neatly back to the same argument I always make; build a dedicated olympic park somewhere and use it every four years, with all competing nations contributing to the build and upkeep of it.

That's for another thread though.

 

[mjo]

But where?

 

[Brogan]

Who cares, as long as it's not London

 

[mjo]

Greece? Wait.....

 

[Jen]

Switzerland. Neutral, politically stable and monied - they would see it as a business opportunity and, as such, would take great care every four years to make it what it is meant to be

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Switzerland. Neutral, politically stable and monied - they would see it as a business opportunity and, as such, would take great care every four years to make it what it is meant to be

They can also do the winter olympics too!

 

[Brogan]

Good grief... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19325756

Would you break your own toe to win a Paralympic medal? Would you sit on a sharp object or strangulate your testicles? It's cheating, but a scientist who will be monitoring athletes at the Paralympic Games says a third of competitors with spinal injuries may be harming themselves to boost their performance.

The practice, called "boosting", is designed to increase blood pressure and enhance performance.

It's banned by the International Paralympics Committee (IPC), but some researchers say these are the desperate acts of athletes trying to compete on a level playing field.

 

[The Pits]

Strangulating my testicles does little to enhance my performance.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Good grief... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19325756

Is this why you keep stubbing your little toes?

 

[Brogan]

A useful article on how the athletes are classified, depending on ability/disability/impairment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/18934366

 

[Mephistopheles]

Is anyone watching the opening ceremony tonight?

 

[sushifiesta]

I would be if Channel 4 provided a half decent stream. 2 minutes of adverts, 1 minute of video, a message about insufficient bandwidth (not my problem when I'm on fibre optic and everything else works flawlessly), then back to 2 minutes of adverts etc. etc. etc.

BBC 1 - 0 Channel 4 so far.

 

[Mephistopheles]

It is odd sushifiesta that I have skyHD and the ordinary channel four does not work at all but channel 4 HD works perfectly.. go figure..

 

[mjo]

Stupid adverts! Although the ceremony hasn't exactly been riveting so far.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Not riveting but interesting for instance Azerbaijan's +100 kilo class gold medal holder in Judo was shot in the head and lost his eyesight as a result, he must fight on instinct alone...