Medal joy for GB Paralympic crews

Britain clinched two silver medals in the Paralympic classes at the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth.

John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas were second in the three-person Sonar class behind the United States.

But the result was enough to give the experienced GB trio victory in the overall ISAF World Cup series.

Niki Birrell and Alex Rickham were also second in the Skud-18 class behind the US's Scott Whittman and Julia Dorsett, who won five of the seven races.

Rickham admitted: "We're happy, but at the same time we're slightly disappointed because we had the chance to win gold not silver. It just didn't go our way.

"All in all I think we're in a really good position though. We just need to make sure we are as close to the top as we are now and make sure we're still there in two and a half years.

"Nothing would be nicer to qualify for 2012 and win a medal here at home, considering our disappointment in Beijing."

Thierry Schmitter of the Netherlands, who was a bronze medallist at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, secured gold in the solo 2.4mR class ahead of France's Damien Seguin after finishing first and second in the last two races of the series.

Britain's Megan Pascoe was pipped for bronze by another Dutch sailor Andre Rademaker, but Pascoe's fourth place was enough to give her the overall World Cup series by two points from Schmitter.

"I did my best," said Pascoe. "I could have got into third today, so I was a little bit disappointed. I would have liked to have medalled here, but it's a nice silver lining to win the World Cup series."

Home Depot to end Olympics sponsorship

After 16 years as an Olympic sponsor, Home Depot is hanging up its rings.

On Wednesday, the world’s largest home improvement retailer informed 98 employees in its Olympic jobs program that it is ending its sponsorship of the Olympics and Paralympics.

The innovative jobs program had allowed Olympic athletes to work part-time at Home Depot while enjoying full-time pay and benefits, gaining time to train.

Three Georgia athletes will be affected. They are in Morrow, Savannah and Athens, said Home Depot spokeswoman Jean Niemi, who couldn’t immediately provide their names.

Over the course of the retailer’s 16-year sponsorship, more than 660 athletes participated in the jobs program; 300 Home Depot athletes made Olympic and Paralympic teams; and they brought home nearly 150 medals, 95 of them gold.

Athletes will be paid through March 2. After that, they can stay in their current positions for part-time pay, apply for full-time jobs that become available, or leave the company.

Home Depot had been a U.S. Olympic Team sponsor since the 1992 games in Barcelona, followed by the 1996 games in the company’s hometown of Atlanta.

Home Depot, a publicly traded company, doesn’t disclose how much it spends on sports sponsorships. Niemi wouldn’t specify Wednesday night how much money it invests in the Olympic jobs program. “We don’t disclose that at all.”

While other companies also sponsor Olympic athletes, Home Depot’s program was high-profile: It had used its athletes in advertising campaigns.

In May, prior to the summer Olympics, 137 athletes were in the program. At the time, the company had said it was weighing whether to continue its Olympic sponsorship.

Home Depot’s announcement could signal a cascade of ending sports sponsorships, as some big brand names and retailers are suffering from the economic downturn.

Niemi said Home Depot’s decision wasn’t based on the economy, but rather on finding “new ways” to reach out to customers and staffers.

“We came to the decision the time was right to move on and look at other opportunities,” she said. “There are no plans in place as of now as to what to do with the money.”

Summer Olympic games in recent years have been in farflung locations, from Sydney to Athens to Beijing, where the big-box chain has no presence, or only a small one, like its dozen or so fledgling stores in China.

Meanwhile, the company has added on expensive sponsorships for NASCAR and other popular American sports, like college and professional football.

These sports appeal to the main customer base of Home Depot, as the majority of the chain’s stores —- just under 2,000 out of about 2,274 —- are in the U.S. market. Its other three markets are Mexico, Canada and China. Still, the bulk of the company’s revenue and profit comes from its U.S. stores.

Patrick Rishe, director of Sportsimpacts, a St. Louis sports marketing firm and a marketing professor at Webster University, wasn’t surprised Home Depot was cutting back.

“In tough times like these, companies are going after things that are not essential, like marketing and goodwill initiatives,” said Rishe, noting Atlanta-based UPS’ rival FedEx’s decision not to advertise at this year’s Super Bowl. He said the economic and public relations backlash probably won’t be too severe. “I’d like to the think, given everything that’s going on, the general public are probably more likely to cut them some slack,” he said. “If the economy was going well, people might scratch their heads a little, but not now. Besides, a lot of people may not even notice because they’re too busy dealing with their own situation.”

The company’s total advertising and marketing budget in 2007 was $1.2 billion, according to the 2007 annual report, the most recent available.

Several firms track the numbers. One, IEG Sponsorship Report, says Home Depot spent $60 million to $65 million on sports sponsorships in 2007.

The Nielsen Co. reported that Home Depot purchased $25.3 million and $30.1 million in ads during the 2004 Summer and 2006 Winter games, respectively. Nielsen also reports Home Depot spent nearly $12 million on NASCAR ads in 2007, while rival Lowe’s spent $7.7 million.

Funding boost for GB Paralympians

Britain's Paralympic sport boss Phil Lane welcomed the £16.1m increase in funding ahead of London 2012.

But cash for development has been cut, while the grant of £201,000 for women's wheelchair basketball in Beijing looks unlikely to be renewed.

"A number of proven medal-winning sports have received a significant boost to their funding," said Lane.

"We had aspirations of sending a full team so the home crowd had something to cheer. That may not happen now."

British Paralympians won 102 medals, including 42 golds, in Beijing.

Boccia and shooting saw their funding almost trebled, while cycling enjoyed a 118% increase to £3.85m over the next four years.

Swimming, responsible for 11 gold medals, will receive £10.06m - an increase of 45% on Beijing funding.

However, the ParalympicsGB organisation has received a cut in funding from £4.29 million to £1.86 million.

"We had a winning formula in two parts. Lottery funding to the sports doubled in the lead-up and ParalympicsGB maximised that investment," said Lane.

"That last bit of the equation will now be missing in part."

Men's wheelchair basketball saw its funding increased but the women's team will not find out until January whether they will receive any grant at all.

However, their representative Paul Hudson was upbeat, saying: "Whilst we do not have an indication of funding for the next four years, probably the most important four years of our women's programme in its history.

"We will work closely with UK Sport and other partner organisations to realise a level of support for the GB women's national team."

Phil Lane ready for challenge of 2012

British Paralympic Association chief executive Phil Lane has warned that there is more hard work ahead as the team work towards London 2012.

In Beijing, Great Britain were second in the medal table behind China but Lane insists there is no room for complacency.

"We have to look at what we have achieved and be ruthless at improving standards," he said.

"We need to rise to the challenge of competing in a home Games in 2012."

Speaking at the launch of ParalympicsGB's Beijing report, Lane praised the achievements of Britain's team in China where they came away with 102 medals, including 42 golds, but warned of other nations catching up.

"This was an extraordinary performance achieved with the pressure of following a successful Olympics and in the backyard of a dominant home nation," he said.

"In what was the most competitive Games I have known, the GB team was the best prepared and best organised to leave these shores and our athletes rose magnificently to the challenge.

"But to retain our place in the medal table in the future will be a test.

"The USA have regrouped and pushed us close for second in the table, Russia are much more prominent and nations like the Ukraine, Brazil and South Africa are making huge strides.

"It means that there is more pressure on established Paralympic nations and we have to be strong and find those small margins which can keep us in front and hold off both new and old rivals."

However, with many anticipating a cut in resources when UK Sport announces the ongoing funding for Olympic and Paralympic sports next week, Lane is keen that the money is channelled in the most effective way.

He says they will need a figure in the region of £6-7m over the next four years to 'back existing winning habits and break new ground.'

"We are the envy of other nations because of what we have achieved but we want to build on our winning formula and challenge sports which didn't achieve in Beijing," he said.

Lane also added that they would be working on developing new talent and ensuring that the 2012 organisers deliver a Games current and future athletes.

But he refused to be drawn on UK Sport's hopes that the British team would be in a position to top the medal standings in London.

"There would be be no greater crowning glory than to top the medal table but we are realistic about the situation.

"We all know that if China turn up in London with the volume of numbers we know they have and with investment they will be a difficult set of opponents.

"But we will do our best to strive and if we get the funding right we will be right."

Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games - Photos

Paralympics Heroes Parade

Olympic and Paralympic Heroes Parade

Thousands of fans gathered in London on Thursday to greet Britain's Olympians and Paralympians for a parade to celebrate their Beijing success.

After the 12-float procession travelled from Mansion House to Trafalgar Square, the Olympians ended their day by meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Cycling star Chris Hoy called the day "very special", while swimmer Rebecca Adlington said it had been "brilliant".

A Palace reception for the Paralympic stars will be held early in 2009.

Hoy, winner of three gold Olympic medals in the velodrome, added: "It's unbelievable and great to see so much positivity. It's the stuff of dreams."

Hoy and his fellow cyclists Victoria Pendleton, Rebecca Romero and Paralympic champions Sarah and Barney Storey, Rachel Morris and Simon Richardson were the first to arrive by Nelson's Column and were welcomed by the cheering fans.

With all the athletes gathered in Trafalgar Square at the end of the procession, mayor of London Boris Johnson responded to criticism of the timing of the parade.

Johnson said: "There's never a wrong time to celebrate the greatest achievement by an Olympic and Paralympic team since 1908."

He added: "I hope there are kids watching today, saying 'that could be me in 2012'."

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell called the parade a "fitting tribute."

British Olympic Association chief executive Simon Clegg said: "To have this reception is fantastic. We have recognised that bringing all the athletes together has been very challenging."

Mark Hunter, gold medallist with Zac Purchase in the lightweight double sculls, was joined by 21 of his 24 team-mates who won medals in China, as well as 400m Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu and 400m hurdles bronze medallist Natasha Danvers.

Hunter said: "I wouldn't miss this for the world. Our success is everybody's success."

Lee Pearson, Paralympic dressage gold medallist, was on the sixth float with the rest of the equestrian teams, along with Sarah Stevenson, who won Britain's first taekwondo medal, and modern pentathlon silver medallist Heather Fell.

The successful sailing teams, including three-time Olympic winner Ben Ainslie, were on float seven, and boxing champion James DeGale following behind.

The ninth float held two of the Paralympic gold-medal winning boccia team, with Tim Brabants celebrating his canoeing gold and bronze on float 10.

Next up was Dave Roberts, who won four Paralympic swimming gold medals taking his tally to 11, along with 14-year-old diver Tom Daley.

Daley said: "I've had one day off since coming back from China and gone back to school. But today's just amazing."

The final float contained swimming sensations Adlington and Britain's youngest Paralympic champion, 13-year-old Eleanor Simmonds, whose tearful celebrations in Beijing captured the nation's imagination.

Double gold medallist Adlington, Mansfield's most famous swimmer, is one of the favourites for the BBC Sport Personality award and joked that her two medals had been chipped because of all the attention.

She said: "All of the support is just brilliant. Everybody says swimming is boring, but hopefully the sport can be put right on the map now."

Following the activities in Trafalgar Square, over 500 Olympians, including those medallists in the procession and their support staff, spent just under three hours at Buckingham Palace.

The reception was held with the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal, who is president of the British Olympic Association.

Hoy said meeting the Queen for the third time was "fantastic", while Adlington admitted to being very nervous but said: "At least I can say that I have spoken to her and I will always remember it for the rest of my life."

Athletics star Ohuruogu said: "She is the most iconic figure in the UK and to have her spend a couple of minutes talking to you is fantastic. It is something that I will be able to tell my grandchildren."

London 2012 chief Lord Coe said the athletes' efforts in Beijing had been "herculean".

"It's been a great day for them and I'm sure many of the athletes are starting to realise just how excited we were back home," Coe told

He added the mood in the Palace had been "very upbeat". "It's been a long day, but it's everything they deserve and has ended just as spectacularly for them."

Reflecting on London hosting the next Olympics and Paralympics, he added: "It will be a Games for everyone. The real challenge is getting all the kids here today into sport on a regular basis.

"Beijing gave us the most extraordinary platform for the next four years."

Team GB returned from China in August after their best Olympic medal haul in 100 years, finishing fourth in the medal table with 19 golds, 13 silvers and 15 bronze.

The ParalympicsGB team were Britain's most successful for two decades, winning 102 medals, including 42 golds, to finish second in the table behind the Chinese.

Paralympics Games Beijing 2008

Paralympic Games begin in Beijing

Fireworks erupt of the National Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Beijing Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008.


The Paralympic Games opened in Beijing on Saturday with a burst of fireworks as China welcomed another chance to cement its role as a global player to an international audience.

Thousands of cheerleaders and dancers in puffy, rainbow-colored suits performed a dance routine in the center of the field at the National Stadium before athletes from 148 countries were introduced. The crowd cheered and waved flags as China’s Communist Party leaders and foreign dignitaries looked on.

The guest list included Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, German President Horst Koehler and South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo.

Earlier Saturday, they shook hands and posed for photos with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China’s legislature in the heart of Beijing. Hu gave a brief speech and toasted the games.

“Caring for the disabled is an important symbol for social civilization and progress,” Hu said before raising his glass.

Paralympics Games host Cities

PARALYMPIC GAMES HOST CITIES

PARALYMPIC GAMES HOST CITIES

1948 - Stoke Mandeville
1960 - Rome
1964 - Tokyo, Japan
1968 - Tel Aviv
1972 - Heidelberg
1976 - Toronto
1980 - Arnhem
1984 - Stoke Mandeville & New York
1988 - Seoul
1992 - Barcelona
1996 - Atlanta
2000 - Sydney
2004 - Athens
2008 - Beijing

Paralympics celebrate 60 years of competition in Beijing

History of the Paralympics

The Paralympics have come a long way from its humble beginnings as a rehabilitation programme for British war veterans with spinal injuries.

Back in 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist who was working with World War II veterans with spinal injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, began using sport as part of the rehabilitation programmes of his patients.

He set up a competition with other hospitals to coincide with the London Olympics in that year.

Over the next decade Guttman's care plan was adopted by other spinal injury units in Britain and competition grew.

In 1960, the Olympics were held in Rome, and Guttmann brought 400 wheelchair athletes to the Olympic city to compete. The modern Parallel Olympics (or "Paralympics") were born.

Britain's first ever gold medal was won by Margaret Maughan that year in archery - the first sport to be included in Guttman's treatment plans.

In 1964, the able-bodied athletes went to Tokyo for the Olympics and shortly afterward the Japanese capital also played host to the disabled athletes.

The games in Japan saw the introduction of wheelchair racing - although only in the normal day-to-day chairs rather than the space age machines used by the Paralympians of today.

While the Olympics went to Mexico in 1968, the Paralympics were staged in Israel and four years later were held in Heidelberg while the Olympics were in Munich.

They saw more than 1,000 athletes from 44 countries participating and people with quadriplegic spinal injuries competed for the first time while visually impaired athletes took part in demonstration events.

The visually impaired took a full part in medal events in Toronto in 1976. Their participation, along with debuts for amputee and mixed disabilities ("les autres"), athletes boosted the number of competitors to 1600.

Specialised racing wheelchairs were used for the first time.

The Paralympic movement invited athletes with cerebral-palsy to compete for the first time.

Four years later, Britain and the United States joined forces as hosts with events being held at Stoke Mandeville and New York. The Wheelchair Marathon race was added to the competition for the first time.

The 1980's ended on a high note for the Paralympic movement, with the 1988 games in Seoul.

The Koreans decided that the games should be truly "parallel" and so they were staged on the same scale and lines as the Olympics.

It saw an unprecedented level of co-operation between the organising committees of the Olympics and Paralympics.

The 1992 Barcelona Paralympics took the Games one step further with 3,500 athletes from 82 countries competing in front packed stadia.

Following the Barcelona Games, athletes with learning disabilities had their own Paralympics in Madrid.

Unfortunately a lot of the good work of Barcelona was undone four years later in Atlanta.

The Paralympic Organising Committee received little help from their Olympic counterparts and athletes complained about the facilities in the Olympic Village and about the city's transport system.

The athletes competed in almost empty venues.

However, it was not all bad - Atlanta was the first Paralympic games to benefit from having world-wide sponsors, athletes with learning disabilities were integrated into the main programme, equestrian was added to the list of sports, with sailing and wheelchair rugby being included as demonstration events.

Atlanta 1996 also saw a record number of participating nations and record number of world bests set.

Sydney was the first city in the southern hemisphere to host the Paralympics.

A staggering 132 countries took part with rugby and wheelchair basketball given full medal status, but the Games was not without some controversy.

Joy soon turned to shame when Spain's intellectually disabled basketball team were stripped of their medals after an investigation by the Spanish Paralympic Committee proved only two out of their 12 players suffered from a mental disability.

But this failed to taint the overall success of the Games, which enjoyed packed stadiums and unprecedented media coverage across the world - making it the best Paralympics ever.

Of the record 135 nations competing at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, there were 17 new countries competing in 19 sports.

Just under 4,000 athletes took part, setting 304 new world records and 448 Paralympic records.

China topped the medal table for the first time; Britain was second with 35 gold medals out of a total of 94.

Two British swimmers won four gold medals each - Dave Roberts and Jim Anderson.

Among the best individual performers were Japanese swimmer Mayumi Narita who won seven gold and one bronze medal.

And Canadian wheelchair athlete Chantal Peticlerc claimed five gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m races, setting three world records.

It is all a far cry from the movement's humble beginnings in in Stoke Mandeville.

Paralympics celebrate 60 years of competition in Beijing

Paralympics celebrate 60 years of competition in Beijing

The Paralympics celebrate 60 years of competition in Beijing

Paralympics coverage expands to the Web

It won't come close to the hours of coverage available on televisions and computer screens across North America during last month's Olympic Games.

But a plan to show a minimum of eight hours of live, commentated Paralympic competition on the Internet each day of the Games is being touted as a great leap forward for Paralympic sports.

"The International Paralympic Committee is very happy about this great commitment for the worldwide distribution of the Games," IPC president Philip Craven said while confirming the plan on Thursday.

"It is superb news for those who do not have the opportunity to watch the Paralympics on TV."

Paralympic Games live footage will be available, free of charge, on the IPC's Internet TV channel paralympicsport.tv, as well as on YouTube at www.youtube.com/paralympicsporttv.

The program was announced after the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co. agreed to provide live signals of 12 Paralympic sports: athletics, boccia, track cycling, seven-a-side soccer, judo, swimming, table tennis, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

In addition to the live events, paralympicsport.tv will broadcast a daily news show, with additional highlights -- including sports that won't be live-streamed -- available as video-on-demand.

A schedule of events can be found at www.paralympic.org.

Alpine skiing, sledge hockey, nordic skiing and wheelchair curling were broadcast live online from the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in Turin, Italy.

But the Beijing program is much more ambitious, given the number of sports.

In the United States, daily live and delayed highlight shows will be broadcast on www.universalsports.com.

"We welcome this opportunity to expand our audience in the United States, and show what a magnificent event this will be," Craven told reporters.

"The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games are hitting a number of milestones and the broadcasting with Universal Sports will most certainly bring in more Paralympic enthusiasts."

Apart from the host country, few broadcasters devote much time to Paralympic sports. The BBC in Great Britain is a notable example.


Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games Photos