UK Sport

Two Years To Go: Paralympic sport in a great position to succeed

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Jessica Whitehorn 26 August 2010

Sunday will mark two years to go to the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, focusing the minds of British athletes, coaches and support staff on the work still to be done ahead of their home Games.

UK Sport, the nation’s elite sports agency, agrees milestone targets each year, which are set by every sport funded via the World Class Performance Programme. For the 2010 competition season the Paralympic sports' medal target range for their milestone events (the majority being World Championships) is between 65-99 medals.

At this stage in the season, with many events still to take place, the Paralympic sports as a collective have already won 69 medals at major championships, meaning progress towards London 2012 two years out is firmly on track. This was also reflected in UK Sport’s recent Mission 2012 update.

Individual examples include the four medals won by the visually impaired judo squad and three medals won by the disability sailing squad at their respective 2010 World Championships, where, in both cases, targets were exceeded.

Peter Keen, Director of Performance at UK Sport, said: “Two years out from the start of the Paralympic Games in London, it is fantastic to see so many Paralympic sports meeting and even exceeding their own targets, which have been agreed with UK Sport for the current season. With sports like adaptive rowing and para-equestrian dressage still to compete in their milestone events for 2010, we’re confident that Paralympic sport in the UK is in a great position to succeed in 2012.

“While the aim is to retain second place in the Paralympic medal table in 2012, our ambition is to see more medals across more sports than in Beijing. Our Mission 2012 dialogue with the sports has highlighted opportunities to squeeze out every last drop of potential. To achieve this we have made a real step-change in the current cycle towards adding value to our investment in Paralympic sports, particularly in areas such as talent identification and transfer, coach development and research and innovation.”

You can read the stories of two Paralympic hopefuls who have been identified via the Talent 2012: Paralympic Potential campaign in the athlete experiences section of our website. Kate Jones [PDF, 302k] and Tom Dowan [PDF, 497k] were not involved in elite Paralympic sport this time last year, but are now both within reach of making the team in 2012.

UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme is also bringing a record number of major championships in Paralympic sports to the UK ahead of 2012. This summer alone has seen three world championships in Paralympic sports staged in the UK, giving British athletes the chance to experience world class competition on home soil ahead of the London Games and the public a chance to witness elite athletes in action right on their doorstep.

The Foreign Office has marked two years to go by launching a short film featuring one of the UK’s most successful Paralympians, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. Tanni is a member of UK Sport’s Mission 2012 Paralympic Panel and also an ambassador for International Inspiration.
In the video Tanni comments: “In terms of sport we’re the envy of the world; in terms of our support structures, our media coverage and the Games we are going to be hosting.”