Reedie, Paralympics Chiefs Promise Outstanding Games; Torch Relay Begins

(ATR) IOC member from Great Britain Craig Reedie tells Around the Rings that the Paralympic Movement is "on the brink of something special" as the clock ticks down to Wednesday's opening ceremony.

"I would be surprised if the International Paralympic Committee has had a better set-up or organization ever," Reedie told ATR.

"I think London is going to deliver an outstanding set of arrangements and venues for the Paralympic Games."

The Scotsman said the fact that there are just 100,000 tickets left to sell of the 2.5 million available underlined the enthusiasm of the British public and foreign ticket buyers to watch Paralympic athletes performing at the highest level.

Mayor Promises Most Accessible Games

London Mayor Boris Johnson told a news conference Tuesday that people should "not underestimate" what the city is doing in hosting the Paralympics.

Johnson was speaking to reporters at a transport and security briefing about the Games when he said that huge amounts of money had been invested in making London’s transport more accessible.

"I do urge people not to underestimate the scale of what the city is now doing," he said. "There are already 42,000 athletes, 16 venues, 16,500 members of the media once again – we are ready to put on the most accessible Games ever."

He added: "It is thanks to the impetus given to the city by the need to put on the Paralympics that we’ve made some significant investments in the city. This is a legacy from the Games we are going to continue to build on, to put in more disabled access throughout the network."

Johnson was joined at the briefing by Olympics minister Hugh Robertson and LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton.

"Our ambition is very simple; to lay on the biggest and best Paralympics ever with more tickets sold, more athletes from more countries than ever before," said Robertson.

"I think there are real reasons of confidence in believing we can build on that. We have tried to make sure that the Paralympics were not an afterthought, that they were integrated into the planning of the Olympic Games."

Deighton confirmed that tickets for the opening ceremony had sold out. He said there were now 100,000 Paralympic tickets remaining, which LOCOG would release "in lots of 10,000 a day".

Deighton added that all the Olympic venues necessary for the Paralympics had been successfully transitioned.

Commenting on the volunteers, he said: "We now have 21,000, two thirds of them are new volunteers so we’ve been making sure they’re trained and ready to carry on the extraordinary atmosphere we saw from the Games Makers earlier this month [at the Olympics]."

Paralympics fans in the U.S. will be able to watch the opening ceremony live. Deighton announced that in conjunction with the IPC, LOCOG will be streaming the ceremony on their YouTube channel.

NBC came in for criticism from some Olympic fans when it delayed screening of the July 27 opening ceremony to a primetime slot in order to reach the widest audience. But the broadcaster's coverage of Danny Boyle's ceremony broke records for a Summer Olympics, delivering 40.7 million total viewers, an increase of 17 percent on the Beijing 2008 opening ceremony.

Also at today's briefing was Chris Allison, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

He said that security for the Paralympics was operating on the same remit as for the Olympics. But he revealed that the national threat level had gone down from "severe" during the Olympics to "substantial".

Paralympic Torch Relay Begins

The Paralympic Flame will be created in a special ceremony this evening at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the spiritual home of the Paralympic Movement. Around 3,000 invited guests, including Paralympians and representatives from disability groups, will attend the event to launch the start of the 24-hour torch relay.

To create the Paralympic Flame, the national flames that were lit last week on the four highest mountain peaks in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland will be united in a celebration cauldron at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

The Paralympic Flame will then be carried 92 miles through 24 communities by 116 teams of five people to the Olympic Stadium, where the cauldron will be lit Wednesday night at the opening ceremony.

IPC president Philip Craven, who took part in five Paralympic Games between 1972 and 1988 mainly in wheelchair basketball, will be among the first team of torchbearers to depart from Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

Craven said the torch relay would "further raise awareness levels of the Paralympic Games to new levels, whilst also recognizing and celebrating the roots and history of the Paralympic Movement".

The Paralympic torch relay presenting partners are BT, Lloyds TSB and Sainsbury’s.

Reported by Christian Radnedge and Mark Bisson

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