Paralympics London 2012
05th September 2012
London 2012 was my first Paralympic Games as an accredited journalist and reporter and what a special one it was. There's never been a Paralympics like it with an audience of more than 10,000, the most wonderful athletes, who just blew me away with their incredible stories, not to mention welcoming and helpful volunteers.
My lasting memories will be something British Dressage Marketing Manager Winnie Murphy told me about while she was working for LOCOG bringing riders from the holding area to be interviewed by the press in the mixed zone.
She said there was one rider who on completing her test came back to meet her team and just said "right shoulder, left hip". They manhandled her off the horse somehow and one of her team wacked her on the shoulder while another got hold of her leg. Winnie said her support team treated her dislocated joints as if they were an every day occurrence.
Then there was the "butterfly waving", which is when the audience was asked not to clap until horse and rider had been reunited after their test so the horses didn't take fright. Instead, the audience waved flags and hands to show their appreciation and the ripple of noise, was so poignant and moving, surprisingly far more so than the loudest clapping and cheering could ever be.
To see my images from the event, please click here
My lasting memories will be something British Dressage Marketing Manager Winnie Murphy told me about while she was working for LOCOG bringing riders from the holding area to be interviewed by the press in the mixed zone.
She said there was one rider who on completing her test came back to meet her team and just said "right shoulder, left hip". They manhandled her off the horse somehow and one of her team wacked her on the shoulder while another got hold of her leg. Winnie said her support team treated her dislocated joints as if they were an every day occurrence.
Then there was the "butterfly waving", which is when the audience was asked not to clap until horse and rider had been reunited after their test so the horses didn't take fright. Instead, the audience waved flags and hands to show their appreciation and the ripple of noise, was so poignant and moving, surprisingly far more so than the loudest clapping and cheering could ever be.
To see my images from the event, please click here