Torch Unveiled, Queen Confirmed at Six-Months Mark to London Paralympics

(ATR) Paralympic Champion Tanni Grey-Thompson says that the Paralympic Games will "never be the same again" after London 2012.

Thompson was speaking outside Buckingham Palace, where she also unveiled the Paralympic torch for the Games at around the same time the press secretary to the Queen announced that both she and husband Prince Philip would be opening the Paralympics six months from now.

London 2012 will have the most coverage of any Paralympics to date, according to Thompson, and sport will change for the better as a result.

"I’ve always believed that the London Paralympics will be the best Paralympics we’ll have ever seen, and I think it will also take it to a whole new level," she said.

"I don’t think the sport will ever be the same again. And the British athletes are training extra hard because they know that the international athletes from every other country in the world really want to beat them on their home soil. I think it’s just going to be incredible."

Thompson also praised the "sparkly" design of the aluminium-made torch and said that it's important that the Paralympics have certain differences from the Olympics.

"The torch relay takes place over six days; you’re going to be lighting the flame in each of the four cities and in a very different way," she said.

"So I think it’s really nice for the Paralympic athletes to have something different that’s unique for their Games that’s not just the same as stuff that’s happened at the Olympics."

With part of the 24-hour relay taking place overnight, LOCOG proudly said that the reflective nature of the torch will help it shine brightly and stand out in the darkness as it makes its way from Stoke Mandeville (the site of the first Paralympics) to the Olympic Stadium on August 29.

Thompson maintained that people should stay "realistic" and admitted that though there may be a spike in activity following the Olympics and Paralympics, figures could well drop off after a while.

However, she said that that would still be an improvement on previous Games, saying "I think the amount of media coverage for these Games means that Rio and beyond it won’t drop back to the level it was, even in Sydney, and Sydney wasconsidereda really successful Games.

"I think we’ll always be better – maybe even better than Beijing," she added.

The opening ceremony of the London Paralympics certainly has an edge over its predecessor now that the Queen will be opening the Games on August 29. This will be the first time the Queen has ever opened the Paralympics.

In 1976, the Queen opened the Montreal Olympics, and in 1956 Prince Philip opened the Melbourne Olympics on behalf of the Queen.

"This summer we will be hosting the largest Paralympic Games ever and the opening ceremony on 29 August will be a fantastic event," said LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe.

"The Paralympic Games will undoubtedly be a time of extraordinary pride for our nation, and it is fitting that Her Majesty will declare us underway."

Reported in London by Christian Radnedge

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