(ATR) The biggest surprise of London 2012 was the Paralympics, according to British Olympic Association Chair Sebastian Coe.
The former head of LOCOG spoke to reporters in London after the International Paralympic Committee released its annual report for 2012, which indicated record attendance, viewership and revenue because of the London Paralympic Games.
"I don’t think people were surprised about the Olympic Games," he said. "I think if there was a surprise factor for people, it was the Paralympic Games. I don’t think people really were prepared or expected to see what they saw.
The report showed that the IPC’s revenues for 2012 were around $13 million, and Coe said that people now viewed Paralympic sport in a different way.
"When you had Paralympic sport being analyzed in the same objective way as the same sports just three weeks earlier you knew it had come of age," he told reporters.
"There were lots of things that surprised me about it, but there was more surprise around the Paralympic Games than anything else last summer."
Olympic and Paralympic sport will come together in London once again for the Anniversary Games in two weeks’ time. The three-day event will celebrate the beginning of the Games last summer.
Coe will attend this time around, but only as a spectator.
Reported in London by Christian Radnedge
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