As with the Olympics, the 2012 Summer Paralympics were overseen by the
London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the
Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). LOCOG was responsible for overseeing the staging of the games, while the ODA dealt with infrastructure and venues. The
Government Olympic Executive (GOE) within the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was the lead Government body for co-ordinating the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. The GOE reported through the DCMS Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Sports and the Olympics
Hugh Robertson. It focused on oversight of the Games, cross-programme management and the
London 2012 Olympic Legacy. England's role in the history of the Paralympics was emphasised as part of the Games: an event known as the
Stoke Mandeville Games were hosted by the village of
Stoke Mandeville—site of the
National Spinal Injuries Centre—to coincide with the opening of the
1948 Summer Olympics in London. Contested between British veterans of the
Second World War, it was the first organised sporting event for athletes with disabilities, and served as a precursor to the modern Paralympic Games.
Venues and infrastructure circuit hosted
road cycling during the Paralympics. The 2012 Summer Paralympics used many of the same venues as the 2012 Summer Olympics, along with two exclusive venues (
Eton Manor for wheelchair tennis and
Brands Hatch circuit for road cycling.
Public transport Transport for London (TfL) operated the Paralympic Route Network (a downsized version of the Olympic Route Network operated during the Summer Olympics) to facilitate road traffic between venues and facilities. The network provided of lanes specifically reserved for Paralympic athletes and officials. TfL continued to operate its
Get Ahead of the Games website during the Paralympics, which provided updates and advice for commuters during the Games. Prior to the Games, concerns were raised by TfL commissioner
Peter Hendy that London's transportation system might not be able to handle the Paralympics adequately. He feared that the end of the school summer holiday (which fell during the Games) would result in increased traffic, and that commuters might not heed traffic warnings or change their
travel behaviour as they had during the Olympics.
Sevenoaks railway station was designated as the preferred station for spectators travelling to watch the cycling at
Brands Hatch. Organisers chose Sevenoaks over the closer
Swanley railway station because of its "existing step-free access and excellent transport links", and because Swanley did not yet have a
wheelchair lift. Whilst organisers did not believe that Swanley would be able to have wheelchair lifts installed by the start of the Paralympics, the station finished their installation by early August 2012.
Lead-up and promotion , counting down to the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Handover ceremony The formal handover occurred during the closing ceremony of the
2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, when
Mayor of London Boris Johnson received the
Paralympic Flag from Mayor of Beijing
Guo Jinlong. This was followed by a cultural presentation by Britain, which was a which was a sequel to the presentation during the
Antwerp Ceremony during the Olympics closing ceremonies. It featured urban dance group ZooNation, the
Royal Ballet, and
Candoco, a
physically integrated dance group, all dressed as London commuters and waiting for a bus by a zebra crossing. A double-decker bus drove around the stadium, guided by
Ade Adepitan, to music composed by
Philip Sheppard. The top of the bus was open and folded down to show a privet hedge featuring London landmarks such as
Tower Bridge,
The Gherkin and the
London Eye.
Cherisse Osei, drummer for
Mika, and
Sam Hegedus then performed, before the top of the bus folded up into its original form,sporting multi-coloured Paralympic livery. Both the Paralympic and Olympic flags were formally raised outside of London's
City Hall on 26 September 2008. British Paralympians
Helene Raynsford and
Chris Holmes raised the Paralympic flag.
Paralympic Day and Super Saturday On 8 September 2011,
Trafalgar Square staged
International Paralympic Day to coincide with a visit to London by representatives of the IPC. Hosted by
Rick Edwards,
Ade Adepitan and
Iwan Thomas, the event featured showcases and demonstrations of the 20 sports that would feature during the Games, with some sessions also made inclusive to people with hearing disabilities. It also included appearances by Paralympic athletes
Oscar Pistorius,
Ellie Simmonds and
Sascha Kindred, and the unveiling of a bronze statue of Pistorius by
Ben Dearnley. Prime Minister
David Cameron and Mayor of London Boris Johnson also appeared. Two days later on 10 September, supermarket chain
Sainsbury's and
Channel 4 presented ''Sainsbury's Super Saturday'', a family event at
Clapham Common. The event featured showcases of Paralympic sports, and a concert featuring pop music acts including
Nicola Roberts,
Olly Murs,
The Wanted,
Will Young,
Pixie Lott,
Dappy,
Sugababes,
The Saturdays,
Chipmunk and
Taio Cruz.
Channel 4 promotional campaign Channel 4—the new broadcaster of the Paralympics in Great Britain—developed a multi-platform
advertising campaign to promote its coverage. The broadcaster sought to change the public perception of the Paralympics, encouraging viewers to see them as an "event in its own right", rather than as an afterthought to the Olympics. The campaign included television adverts, online content, and
billboard advertising, some of which carrying the slogan "Thanks for the warm-up". As part of the campaign, Channel 4 produced a two-minute-long trailer for its coverage entitled
Meet the Superhumans, which was directed by Tom Tagholm with input from Deborah Poulton, 2012 Paralympic Project Leader and Alison Walsh, Editorial Manager of Disability, both at Channel 4. The trailer, set to
Public Enemy's song "
Harder Than You Think", focused on the competitive and "superhuman" aspects of Paralympic sport, while acknowledging the personal events and struggles that reflected every athlete's participation in the Games.
Meet the Superhumans premiered on 17 July 2012, airing simultaneously on 78 different commercial television channels in the UK (which included rival commercial channels
ITV and
Sky1). The advert was met with critical acclaim:
Adweek Tim Nudd declared it "the summer's most stunning sports commercial",
Royal Mail stamps and gold post boxes in
Stoke Mandeville was painted gold in honour of the village's role in the history of the Paralympic movement. In August 2009,
Royal Mail unveiled a series of 30 stamps (reflecting the 30th Olympiad) in honour of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, released in batches of ten between 2009 and July 2011. Each stamp featured an Olympic or Paralympic sport and the London 2012 logo. As it had done during the Olympics, Royal Mail honoured Britain's Paralympic gold medallists by painting a
post box gold in each of their home towns (along with an additional post box outside the
National Spinal Injuries Centre in
Stoke Mandeville, in honour of its role in the Games' history), and featured them on commemorative stamps released throughout the Games. As a result of the criticism, Royal Mail announced on 15 August 2012 that it would release individual stamps for each British gold medallist during the Paralympics.
Test events Several Paralympics-specific events were held during the
London Prepares series of test events for the Olympic and Paralympic Games; these included the London International
Goalball Tournament, and the London Disability Grand Prix—which was also the first Paralympic event to be held at London's Olympic Stadium.
Torch relay The Paralympic torch relay began on 22 August, when groups of
integrated scouts kindled four Paralympic flames on the highest peaks of each
Home Nation:
Scafell Pike in England,
Ben Nevis in Scotland,
Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland, and
Snowdon in Wales. On 24 August the four flames were used to light ceremonial cauldrons in London,
Edinburgh,
Belfast and
Cardiff during special "Flame Festival" events; smaller "Flame Celebration" events were also held in various communities over the
bank holiday weekend. On 28 August the four flames were united during a ceremony at
Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The flame then travelled a route to Olympic Stadium in a 24-hour relay, with 580 torchbearers working in teams of five. After a two-hour weather delay, a backup flame was taken straight to the stadium as a contingency, and the relay route was modified. However, as the opening ceremony's parade of nations took longer than expected, the flame was able to reach the external area of Olympic Stadium in time. The high demand resulted in the
Ticketmaster-operated website crashing under the load. Organisers expected the first ever sell-out in the history of the Paralympics; LOCOG's chief executive
Paul Deighton remarked that "the interest in attending the Paralympics has been extraordinary from the start." This success was attributed to the enthusiasm surrounding
Great Britain's performance during the Olympics, fan interest in South African sprinter
Oscar Pistorius—who had become the first ever double amputee to compete in the Olympics alongside non-disabled athletes, and affordable prices. On 8 August, LOCOG announced that 2.1 million tickets had been sold (600,000 in the previous month alone), breaking the record of 1.8 million set in Beijing (1.6 million tickets were also distributed by the Chinese government). Due to popular demand, a further 100,000 contingency tickets were released on 6 September (which included multi-event passes, and event tickets given up by sponsors and partners), along with 100,000 giving access solely to the Olympic Park.
Mascots The official mascot of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games, Mandeville, was unveiled alongside its Olympic counterpart Wenlock on 19 May 2010. As characters, they are portrayed as drops of steel from a steelworks in
Bolton, and feature singular camera eyes representing "focus" with the cameras capturing aspects of the Games. Mandeville is named in honour of
Stoke Mandeville due to its significance in the origins of the Paralympics. Mandeville also wears a helmet emblazoned in the red, green, and blue colours of the
Paralympic emblem.
Opening ceremony The opening ceremony was held on 29 August at the Olympic Stadium. It was inspired by
William Shakespeare's play
The Tempest and themed around the concept of "Enlightenment", with actors
Ian McKellen and
Nicola Miles-Wildin playing the roles of
Prospero and
Miranda. It featured appearances by
theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, and performances by British electronic music group
Orbital, The final bearers of the Paralympic flame represented several generations of Paralympic athletes. "Future" Paralympic athlete
Joe Townsend, a
Royal Marine who lost both of his legs after stepping on a
land mine on duty in
Afghanistan, delivered the flame to Olympic Stadium via a
zipline from the
ArcelorMittal Orbit tower. He passed the flame to long-time British
Five-a-side football captain
David Clarke, who then passed it to the lighter of the
Paralympic cauldron,
Margaret Maughan, who was the winner of Britain's first gold medal at the
first official Paralympics, in Rome.
Closing ceremony The closing ceremony was held on 9 September at the Olympic Stadium. Entitled "The Festival of the Flame", the ceremony was themed around the gathering of people in celebration, and was directed by
Kim Gavin, who also directed the
closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics just a few weeks prior. The artistic programme of the ceremony was set to live performances by the British rock band
Coldplay. They were accompanied by guest performers such as the
British Paraorchestra (who accompanied the band on "
Strawberry Swing", and also performed the Paralympic anthem),
Barbadian singer
Rihanna (who performed "
We Found Love", and her collaboration with Coldplay, "
Princess of China") and American rapper
Jay-Z (who performed "
Run This Town" with Rihanna and Coldplay, and joined in a reprise of "
Paradise"). During their closing remarks, LOCOG chief
Sebastian Coe and IPC president
Philip Craven both congratulated London for its successful hosting of the Paralympics; Coe was proud that both the Olympics and Paralympics in London could be labelled "
Made in Britain", while Sir Phillip felt that the Games were the "greatest Paralympic Games ever." ==The Games==