Pop megastars close Paralympics
Singing at specatacular closing ceremony was 'biggest
honour' for Rhianna
Some of the biggest stars of the music world brought the
Paralympic Games to an end last night in a spectacular and moving
closing ceremony.
Coldplay, Rhianna and Jay Z performed to a delighted audience,
while flame throwers, blazing torches and a gigantic heart of fire
lit up the Olympic Stadium in a Festival of Flame.
"Being at the Paralympics is the biggest honour. These athletes
are gladiators and are a true inspiration," said Rhianna.
Chris Martin from Coldplay added: "Being asked to play at the
closing celebrations for the Paralympic athletes in London is such
a great honour for us.
"It was one of the biggest nights of our lives and we were
excited to try to create a performance … that closed London 2012 in
style."
The ceremony featured stunning effects and more than 1,000
people, including disabled performers who learned circus skills for
the show.
The audience roared as Britain's joint flag-bearers - wheelchair
racer David Weir and cyclist Sarah Storey, who each won four gold
medals - were joined by athletes from each country.
As the ceremony drew to an end, the mayor of London Boris
Johnson handed the Olympic flag to the mayor of Rio, where the 2016
Games will take place.
The final flame was then transferred from the Paralympic
cauldron to a Paralympic torch, which was used to light hundreds of
torches held by performers across the field. Fountains rose from
circular stages to finally extinguish the Paralympic Flame.
The stunning send-off ended with a spectacular firework display
that flashed over the Olympic Stadium and Park.
Join us LIVE on Glow TV - Tune in this Friday
14 September to speak live to two Olympic canoeists - gold medal
winner Tim Baillie AND double silver medallist David Florence! Sign up here.
Click here to try our Paralympics quiz (available in
Gaelic
here)
Lesson ideas and
suggestions
Join the Daily What News Facebook group
Pop megastars close Paralympics
Now that the Games are over ... will anything
change?
They were the most-watched, most talked-about, most profitable
Paralympic Games ever, and they went out with a bang last night as
Rhianna, Jay Z and Coldplay performed to a sell-out crowd at the
closing ceremony.
But now that they are over, thoughts are turning to what the
legacy of the 2012 Paralympics will be. Hopes are high that it will
be about more than sport.
When Dr Ludwig Guttmann created the Paralympic Games, his aim
was not to change society's attitude to the disabled, but to help
injured soldiers become rehabilitated. Yet, over the past few
weeks, the potential for wider change has come into focus.
The prime minister David Cameron said, "eyes are being opened,
attitudes shifted", while former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt
suggested that the "best way to get attitudes to change around the
world is by hosting a fantastic Paralympics".
And Britain did that, hosting a sell-out Games that delivered
300 hours of live footage on Channel 4 - the biggest coverage of a
Paralympics ever, which achieved a peak audience of three million
every night.
But what has the legacy been? Has it altered the way we view
disabled people, and in some way made life better for those with
impairments?
Aileen McGlynn, a Paralympian cyclist and medal winner,
said:
"I'm not sure how attitudes have changed in the past few weeks,
but there was one thing that struck me. When I was younger I used
to get called names - that would happen if you looked different.
Now all these kids are coming up to me and standing beside me for
photographs and asking for my autograph. And I think that's what
it's about - the public seeing disabled people and accepting
them."
Martin Dougan, Channel 4 Paralympics presenter and wheelchair
basketball player agrees. "A stigma has definitely gone," he said.
"Now people are going to want to know people who are disabled, and
it's going to be cool to know someone who has got a disability or
who does a disability sport.
But the Games have taken place amid cuts in disability benefits
and talk by the government that paints many people who claim the
benefis as scroungers. Many campaigners believe the image of the
disabled has been not so much improved as polarised: reduced to the
stereotypes of saint or sinner.
George Osborne, the chancellor, who plans the UK budget, was
booed by an audience of 80,000 when he participated in a medal
ceremony.
A sponsor of the Games was Atos, the company invested with
carrying out the "fit-for-work" tests of disabled people, a fact
which caused a week of protests at its offices. And in Edinburgh
last night, activists projected anti Atos images on to the Scottish
Parliament.
Nevertheless, over the past few weeks, perhaps we have learned
to speak more freely about disability. We have become used to
seeing the physically impaired on mainstream television. We have
started to talk about issues confronting the disabled. The real
question is whether this will last.
Join us LIVE on Glow TV - Tune in this Friday
14 September to speak live to two Olympic canoeists - gold medal
winner Tim Baillie AND double silver medallist David Florence! Sign up here.
Click here to try our Paralympics quiz (available in
Gaelic
here)
Lesson ideas and
suggestions
Join the Daily What News Facebook group