21st January 2014
Last night I had dinner with a group of British wheelchair athletes, in Australia for a series of races this week at Canberra stadium, culminating in the “GIO Oz Day 10k” around Sydney’s historic Rocks district on Australia Day. They were a hugely impressive bunch and it was fun talking to them about their experiences […]
30th July 2013 Washington DC, USA
Nostalgia is defined as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period of place with happy personal associations.” With this weekend marking one year on, was I feeling nostalgic about the London 2012 games, which I experienced from more than 3,000 miles away? I most definitely was. While I couldn’t […]
31st October 2012
Being an Ambassador involves many different experiences. Going to see the new James Bond film was exhilarating, but even better was meeting members of the Swedish Paralympic team from London 2012 last Friday night. I’ve written in this space before about the spirit of the Paralympics, but to meet the individuals who embody it was […]
9th October 2012 Bucharest, Romania
Today I would like to present the story of yet another great Briton in Romania, as told by Peter Thomas, Head of Political Team in the British Embassy in Bucharest: Fifth in our series of Great Britons in Romania is Sally Wood-Lamont, President of the Romanian National Paralympics Committee and founder of the Lamont Centre, a […]
2nd October 2012
In Australia, sport doesn’t get any bigger than the AFL (Aussie rules) Grand Final. In British terms it’s like the Premiership and FA Cup rolled into one. 99,683 of us were gathered in the cauldron of the Melbourne Cricket Ground -“the G” – last Saturday. I had been invited by my friend Paul Sheahan, former […]
10th September 2012 Warsaw, Poland
The last weekend of the Proms season and the climax of the Great British Paralympics in London. A quick dash from the Embassy to the evening train to Kraków. What a Great weekend. This was the end of the week where both British and Polish Olympic teams exceeded their medal targets – the UK 3rd […]
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6th September 2012 London, UK
You can tell a lot about a country from the way it treats it citizens with disabilities. You can tell a lot, that way, about the planet as a whole. That’s the message of the London 2012 Paralympic Games: a call for “Enlightenment” and a celebration of the fact that athletes with disabilities are taking […]
6th September 2012
Back in London again for the Paralympics, Australian Sports Minister Senator Kate Lundy this week fulfilled her side of the gold medals wager with her UK counterpart Hugh Robertson. When Hugh was here in March, Kate had promised to row the Olympic Rowing course at Eton Dorney if Britain got more gold medals than Australia. […]
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4th September 2012 Toronto, Canada
The XIV Paralympic Games open in London on 29 August, with around 4,200 athletes competing in 503 events across 20 disciplines. Assistive technologies play a huge part in these Games, allowing the competitors to perform at the highest level and bringing new developments and innovations to the non-sports markets. Aiming to capitalise on the concentration […]
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30th August 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I am just about to go on leave out of Poland. One of the things I plan to do is watch lots of the Paralympics live on TV. One of my best experiences thus far was the farewell ceremony for the Polish Paralympics team last Friday. They are a fantastic bunch of dedicated athletes, who are gunning […]
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