Guest blogger: London 2012, a celebration of diversity in sports

Blog by Sally Wood-Lamont, President of the Romanian National Paralympic Committee

I am delighted that the UK will host, for the third time in the history of the Olympic Games, an event that will keep the whole world connected through the values of fair competition and excellence in sports. That London 2012 has Paralympics at its heart makes the games next summer so much more exciting for me, a British national working with the Romanian National Paralympic Committee.

The Romanian paralympic team will be the largest team ever to participate consisting of 5 fields of sports: Athletics (2); Cyclism (4); Swimming (4); Table Tennis (4); Wheelchair Tennis (1). All have worked extremely hard to qualify for the Paralympics and have had to participate in many competitions to achieve the ranking points necessary for qualification. The athletes come from all over Romania and are aged between 14yrs and 36 years. 2011 is a very decisive year and all athletes will train and participate in competitions until May 2012 to ensure their qualification. For 14 of them it will be their first Paralympics only one athlete, Eduard Novak (cyclism) having competed before.

 Romanian table tennis Paralympic team

The 2012 Paralympic Games will stage twenty paralympic sports, nine sports will be played in London’s Olympic Park which will be built specifically for the Olympic and Paralympic games. The ExCeL Centre will host a further six sports. The shooting events will be held at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, the road cycling at Regent’s Park in central London, and the rowing at Dorney Lake. Greenwich Park will host the equestrian events. Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy will host the sailing events. The London Paralympics will be the first Games since the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney in which athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID) will be allowed to compete.

 Romanian swimming Paralympic team

500 days before the start of the 2012 Paralympics in London, I look forward to the next stage of preparations for the games, and wish both the British and Romanian competitors a great journey ahead, perseverance in training, and best of luck!