An electric atmosphere at a sports competition for young people with disabilities

On Tuesday I was at the Langdon School in East Ham, near the Olympic Park in east London, when it hosted the eagerly awaited sixth and final event of the first round of the 2009 Panathlon Challenge.

The Panathlon Challenge is an inter-borough sporting competition for disabled youngsters between four of the five Host Boroughs. One hundred athletes aged between eight and 18, (25 from each of the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Greenwich and Newham), compete against each other in the sports of Boccia, new age kurling, polybat, table cricket, flat and field athletics.

panathlon_challenge

When we arrived at midday, we were greeted by an array of very well presented, well mannered Langdon School students and were escorted by them to the newly built, all-purpose sports centre where the action was taking place.

When we opened the double doors allowing us access to the spacious sports hall, we were knocked back by the amount of energy there was in the room. The atmosphere was electric with all the children and even the adults looking like they were having the time of their lives.

As I wandered around observing the participants taking part, I was encouraged to see how engaged and talented the children were. This event was the climax of hours of practice and anticipation, and the youngsters were giving it their all - not only for themselves but their team mates too.

In each event the contestants were awarded points, as well as medals depending on where they finished. At the end of the day the points were tallied together - the team with the most points got a place in the regional final, and goes on to compete against the winners from some of the other London boroughs.

The day was topped off by five relay races and, like many others there, was the highlight of the day, not only for the observers but for the athletes as well. After all the events had finished I had the honour of presenting an award to one of the runner-up teams, with Newham scooping gold for the second year running.

The day was inspirational and we at the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA's) Delivery Partner hope to replicate the success of this event, on a slightly larger scale, with the ‘Time to Shine’ project at Stoke Mandevilleon the 28 July. This aims to engage 250 disabled youths in sporting activities and will involve all of the five Host Boroughs.