London 2012 takes Paralympic games to 'new heights'

Thursday, August 16, 2012
[PHOTO: London 2012/LOCOG] 
London: With two weeks to go to the Paralympic Games, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has today announced how the Paralympic Flame will be created and the street level route that it will take during the 24 hour overnight Relay from Stoke Mandeville to London.

On Wednesday 22 August, using a combination of teamwork and human endeavour, National Flames will be created at the summit of the highest peaks of the four home nations: Scafell Pike (England), Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa (Wales), Ben Nevis (Scotland) and Slieve Donard (Northern Ireland).

Groups of disabled and non-disabled Scouts will ascend the mountains, and at the top they will use the traditional technique of rubbing flint together to create sparks and kindle a flame. The four individual Flames will then be placed in a miner’s lantern and transferred to the nation’s capital cities where they will each become the focus for a day of Paralympic celebrations.

From here the four National Flames will be taken to Stoke Mandeville, spiritual home of the Paralympic movement, where they will be united during a special ceremony on Tuesday 28 August to create the London 2012 Paralympic Flame. 

Articulating his views, LOCOG Chairman Sebastian Coe said, “We have created a unique identity for the Paralympic Torch Relay which will be a celebration of courage, determination, inspiration and equality that every Paralympian represents. By creating the four Flames through human endeavour at the four highest peaks in the UK we will ensure that the spirit of each home nation is represented in the Paralympic Flame. Today we invite people to show their support for the Paralympic Torch Relay.  Whether it’s taking lanterns along to a Flame Festival or Celebration, supporting a Torchbearer or getting together to line the route of the 24 hour relay and help us light the way to the Paralympic Games.”
 
In the London 2012 Paralympic Torch Relay, 116 teams of five Torchbearers will carry the Flame from Stoke Mandeville to London. The teams have today been notified which street they will be carrying the Paralympic Flame along so that they can plan for their friends and family to come and cheer them on. They were selected through public nomination campaigns run by BT, Lloyds TSB and Sainsbury’s, as well as the British Paralympic Association, the International Paralympic Committee and other London 2012 sponsors. Whether they have been together for years, or been brought together around a common story, each team represents the Paralympic values.

Starting at 8pm on Tuesday 28 August, the 24-hour overnight relay route will see the Paralympic Flame carried 92 miles by 580 inspirational Torchbearers, working in teams of five, from Stoke Mandeville to the Olympic Stadium to officially open the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The Relay will travel through some of the communities of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, before visiting all six host boroughs and a number of London landmarks.
Previous
Next Post »