[adrianbaggott]

Is there any new or gossip about this yet? Are there any people who were involved with the Olympic Ceremony also working on the Para's? China did a good job with their Paralympics Opening so I hope the UK does aswell and not treat it as 2nd best to the Olympics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6_RXIeiP5Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MONPld724A8

 

[scproductions]

Is there any new or gossip about this yet? Are there any people who were involved with the Olympic Ceremony also working on the Para's? China did a good job with their Paralympics Opening so I hope the UK does aswell and not treat it as 2nd best to the Olympics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6_RXIeiP5Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MONPld724A8

I hate to break it to you... but the Paralympics is definitely 2nd to the Olympics...

 

[Mr_Andersonn]

Paralymnpics is 2nd to the main event but all events have sold out!

 

[Underlondonskies]

I'm going to the Paralympics Opening Ceremony!

 

[joez14]

I'M GOING :banana:

 

[adrianbaggott]

It's not 2nd best to the athletes who take part! And certainly not 2nd best in my opinion!!

 

[pagey17]

I bet the IOC will be so happy to see sell outs for the paralympics. The strength of the Olympics was the athletics sell outs from Day 1 morning session.

 

[DarJoLe]

The IOC couldn't give a fig about the Paralympics. The IPC on the other hand...

 

[jdjones]

^^ exactly! But I do like how Jacques Rogge mentioned the Paralympics in his speech, as you say it really should be any of his concern so it was a nice touch.

 

[ill tonkso]

Paralymnpics is 2nd to the main event but all events have sold out!

All? I wanted to go to the fencing!

 

[annamaria4711]

I lurve the Para Olympics adv on C4.....the end strap line...Thanks for the warm up...is superb, really well done, it adds a real edge to the paras..... we did well at Bejin re the paraO ? we were 2nd came 2nd did we not? must check

 

[flare]

We traditionally do very well in the para's and there is an outside chance we will top the medal table. The main threats are China (threat will depend on size of their team and USA (we have beaten USA at every games since 1996).

We are typically very strong at cycling, swimming and equestrian.

 

[southseasteve]

Tickets arrived for the OC today. Can't wait. I know it won't quite be on the scale of the Olympic Opening ceremony but I can't wait to be in the stadium and soak up the atmosphere. Not sure what to expect for a Paralympic OC?!

 

[tuten]

One of my friends who lives near the stadium says that a cable from the Orbit going into the stadium has been put in place, maybe something to do with the Para OC?

 

[joez14]

One of my friends who lives near the stadium says that a cable from the Orbit going into the stadium has been put in place, maybe something to do with the Para OC?

YES! I noticed this from the viewing platform in JL stratford city the other day.

 

[Jex7844]

There had been a interesting debate here whether to make the Paralympics happen before if not simultaneaously to the Games rather than after.

I personally think they shouldn't take place after the Olympics any longer. Indeed, now that the Games are over, the disabled athletes won't get the same coverage/recognition that they deserve. It looks as if the Paralympics & Olympics were two events radically different while they're not. I really don't think it's fair...

Making the Paralympic Games happen at the same time that the Olympics would be to me the best decision of course but I doubt that it's doable for some reasons (CIO...?). That's why it would be a wise & great idea to make the paralympics occur just before the Olympic Games, would be a fantastic warm up. As it happens today, people pretty much don't care about the Paralympics as the 'normal' Games are done.

 

[lexeme]

Tickets arrived for the OC today. Can't wait. I know it won't quite be on the scale of the Olympic Opening ceremony but I can't wait to be in the stadium and soak up the atmosphere. Not sure what to expect for a Paralympic OC?!

There's got to be at least 15 - 20 million going into the paralympic OC so it should be pretty good. Anyone know who the artistic director is?

 

[NorbertUpNorf]

There had been a interesting debate here whether to make the Paralympics happen before if not simultaneaously to the Games rather than after....

Making the Paralympic Games happen at the same time that the Olympics would be to me the best decision of course but I doubt that it's doable for some reasons (CIO...?).

I assume the main issues would be around venue configuration and size and the associated cost increases (e.g. some venues inside the Olympic park, such as the Copperbox are undergoing subtle but significant reconfiguration for the Paralympics), and accommodation/logistics for a massively increased number of athletes.

Saying that, the Commonwealth Games have combined the Paralympic element since 2002 in Manchester, and there hasn't been any grumbling in those regards that I've been aware of...

 

[GideaParkHammer]

There had been a interesting debate here whether to make the Paralympics happen before if not simultaneaously to the Games rather than after.

I personally think they shouldn't take place after the Olympics any longer. Indeed, now that the Games are over, the disabled athletes won't get the same coverage/recognition that they deserve. It looks as if the Paralympics & Olympics were two events radically different while they're not. I really don't think it's fair...

Making the Paralympic Games happen at the same time that the Olympics would be to me the best decision of course but I doubt that it's doable for some reasons (CIO...?). That's why it would be a wise & great idea to make the paralympics occur just before the Olympic Games, would be a fantastic warm up. As it happens today, people pretty much don't care about the Paralympics as the 'normal' Games are done.

Tickets for the Paralympics are pretty much sold out, the vast majority of these tickets were sold once the Olympics commenced. This is partly due to the feel good factor the games generated, and the feeling than many have of "I want to be there".

I truly feel that if the Paralympics were first, ticket sales would not have been at the same level.

 

[NorbertUpNorf]

Tickets for the Paralympics are pretty much sold out, the vast majority of these tickets were sold once the Olympics commenced. This is partly due to the feel good factor the games generated, and the feeling than many have of "I want to be there".

I truly feel that if the Paralympics were first, ticket sales would not have been at the same level.

Agree with that, however I see no reason not to combine the events, certainly from an equality/philosophical perspective. Whether the costs become prohibitive is a different matter, but given the immense costs of hosting the games, I would have thought it would be a drop in the ocean...