London 2012 blog

I have just returned from the Far Eastern and South Pacific Paralympic Games 2006 in Kuala Lumpur - and am suffering from the jet lag!

The main reason for my attendance in KL was to attend the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board on behalf of London 2012. Our Chairman, Seb Coe, gave our Progress Report personally by video-link. It is clear the board are now firmly of the view that London will deliver inspirational Paralympic and Olympic Games in 2012.

The Far Eastern & South Pacific Paralympic Games started in the 60s as an offshoot of the Commonwealth Games. In those days everyone competed in multiple sports so it was feasible to hold a week's competition with a few hundred athletes.

In the 70s, athletes started to specialise and the high costs of the Games made them unviable.

Paralympic athletes would have to wait until 1998 to be re-introduced to Commonwealth competition on an integrated basis in British Columbia, Canada.

The first Far Eastern & South Pacific Games were held in 1974 to provide a 'local' multi-sport event for athletes in the region. The mission of these Games is to offer elite sport competition but also provide opportunities to 'blood' aspiring newcomers - a great approach.

A great example of this was seen in the weightlifting hall. A 60 kg lifter from a small Pacific island failed at all three attempts to lift 70kg. At the same time, the Iranian champion just failed an extra attempt in the same weight category at 203.5 kilos - nearly three and a half times his body weight.
















The Games were the biggest ever with over 3500 athletes in attendance (in 2012 we shall have just over 4000) - so nearly Paralympic Games size.

Apart from insufficient emphasis on packing the venues with spectators all the technical infrastructure for the sports was in place and to a high standard.

Piers Jones from our Sports department carried out a thorough sports analysis in his time there and will no doubt 'blog' himself in due course.

These are the last Far Eastern & South Pacific Games, as they have been split into the Oceania and Asian regions.