The Paralympic Games are an awe-inspiring and spectacular showcase of sport featuring thousands of athletes from around the world. These Games are the pinnacle of an athlete's career and all around the world they are training long hours each day in order to compete at the highest level next August and September.
I always thought that the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games would take some beating as they really did set the benchmark for future Games. However, LOCOG has so far done a tremendous job going about things. On current form it would not surprise me if, in just over 500 days’ time at the Closing Ceremony of the Games, I have to eat my words and say the same things about London as I did about Beijing four years ago.
One thing that I think is an absolute certainty for next year is that the performance levels of athletes will once again be significantly raised: the likes of international athletes such as Esther Vergeer, Natalie du Toit and Jason Smyth really will light up the venues and TV screens with their performances, not to mention the huge dual we are expecting over 100m between Oscar Pistorius and Jerome Singleton.
Throw into this fantastic mix a brilliant crop of British athletes like David Weir and Ellie Simmonds and I can guarantee that spectators will be blown away by the performances of our athletes.
We want these Games to be a truly global event, not just in terms of athletes and countries taking part but also in terms of spectators coming from all over the world to see this elite showcase of sport.
London is the perfect location to achieve this as it is within 90 minutes travel time of most major European cities and has fantastic links to the rest of the world.
There are two million tickets available and so far more than 750,000 people have signed up for tickets, the most ever 500 days out from the start of the Games.
Each and every one of them lucky enough to get a ticket will be rewarded by having an opportunity to see one of the greatest sporting events on earth.
Tickets for the London 2012 Paralympic Games will go on sale on Friday 9 September 2011. Register your interest now at www.tickets.london2012.com
