Closing Time - again

The far -from-fat lady Katharine Jenkins has sung (the national anthem) and London 2012 is over.  I’m pretty tolerant but even I have felt my attitudes towards disabled people change during the Paralympics.  Initially, I was sceptical that I would be enthused in the same way as the Olympics itself, with so many ‘confusing’ categories – whereas Usain Bolt is the 100m Olympic champion, there would be many different champions in this event for the Paralympics depending on the range of disability.  Yet I did get carried away with it all.  Ironically, despite massively exceeding the medal haul from Beijing (by a fifth), GB dropped one place in the table from four years ago, from second to third, as Russia became the empire that struck back, though only in gold medals, as it had twenty medals fewer than Great Britain.

I didn’t get to see as much of the Paralympics as I would have liked.  The £307 cost of examining my (now healthy again) cat blew away any hope of affording to go and see an event and Altaa felt squeamish about watching people with disabilities and often insisted on changing the channel.  I did get to see Ellie Simmonds win the 200m swimming medley as well as a few heats in other events.  On Sunday afternoon/evening I almost monopolised the TV, watching the wheelchair rugby final (Australia were just a class above Canada), a bit of the seven-a-side football and the Closing Ceremony (plus the build-up).

I had missed the meat of the Opening Ceremony, misjudging the schedule.  The umbrellas that began the show seemed to take their cue from the Czech team at the Olympics opening show, when they, alone amongst all other squads, walked in with matching wellington boots and umbrellas – welly-brolly wallies.  The Closing Ceremony for the Paralympics was handled by the same artistic director as its Olympic counterpart, Kim Gavin, but this affair was a lot more anonydyne whilst never being banal.  The steampunk theme was well-judged in its current on-topic fashionability, with many weird and wonderful mechanical hybrids.  Coldplay had the talent and the back catalogue to make the concert side of the party really special and even the song Yellow did not seem its usual moping self.  Special guest stars of Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Zee, added a frisson of internationality to the proceedings.  It was all very awe-inspiring engendering much warmth and happiness, inside me at least.  I will definitely look at disabled people in a new light.

Today, there was the victory parade.  It was closed with a rousing speech by the prime minister and Conservative leader, David Cameron and a tub-thumping, somewhat salty (“You have inspired a generation  and you have created a generation – oh, come on, I can get away with that one”)speech by Boris Johnson, the London mayor and Tory leader.  Princess Anne had a speech separating the rivals, as a rose between two thorns.  I tried to imagine the man who would be prime minister as the resident of 10 Downing Street and it isn’t that preposterous anymore.

So, there it is.  A wonderful month and a half of sport.  Roll on Rio.