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2012 Summer Paralympics Torch Relay
The 2012 Summer Paralympics torch relay ran from 22 to 29 August 2012, prior to the 2012 Summer Paralympics. The relay began with four flames kindled on the highest peaks of the four nations of the United Kingdom, which were then brought to their respective capital cities for special events honouring the upcoming Games. For the relay proper, the four national flames were united at a ceremony in Stoke Mandeville in preparation for a final journey to London. Relay Journey to Stoke Mandeville The Paralympic torch relay began on 22 August. In a ceremony representing human endeavour, groups of disabled and non-disabled scouts kindled the four Paralympic flames on the highest peaks of each nation of the United Kingdom; Scafell Pike in England, Ben Nevis in Scotland, Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland, and Snowdon in Wales. The four flames were then brought down from each peak in lanterns. On 24 August the flames were used to light ceremonial cauldrons in their respective capital cities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans as ''Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city#National capitals, Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national Government of the United Kingdom, government and Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the Counties of England, counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stoke Mandeville Stadium
Stoke Mandeville Stadium is the National Centre for Disability Sport in England. It is sited alongside Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. Stoke Mandeville Stadium is owned by WheelPower, the national organisation for wheelchair sport. History The stadium developed out of the Stoke Mandeville Games — the forerunner of the Paralympic Games — founded in 1948 by Ludwig Guttmann. He was a neurosurgeon at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital who recognised the value of exercise and competition in the rehabilitation of ex-members of the British armed forces. By 1961 Guttmann had founded the British Sports Association for the Disabled (now named English Federation of Disability Sport), expanding the concept of organising sport for men, women and children with disabilities and developing Stoke Mandeville Stadium into an international centre of disabled sport. The stadium was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 2 August 1969. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Britain At The Paralympics
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated (under the name "Great Britain") in every summer and winter Paralympic Games. While the Olympic Games find their origin in Greece, Britain, and specifically the Stoke Mandeville Hospital is recognised as the spiritual home of the Paralympic Games. The first Paralympic Games, held in Rome in 1960, were simultaneously the 9th International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, a competition first devised by Dr Ludwig Guttmann in 1948 to coincide with the London Olympic Games of 1948, for soldiers with spinal cord injuries being cared for in Stoke Mandeville Hospital. While the Stoke Mandeville Games continue to exist as the IWAS World Games, a specific event for wheelchair and amputee athletes, the Paralympic Games evolved from its Stoke Mandeville Games roots to include a comprehensive range of disabilities. This legacy is commemorated before each Paralympic Games since 2012 with the lighting of a 'legacy flame' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Maughan
Margaret Maughan (19 June 192820 May 2020) was a British competitive archer, dartcher and bowls competitor. She was Britain's first gold medallist at the Paralympic Games, and won four gold and two silver medals at the Games. She lit the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium in London at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Early life Maughan was from Lancashire, England, and was one of four children. Her father was a miner. Maughan worked as a science teacher. Maughan was paralysed from the waist down and left unable to walk by a road accident in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in 1959. After being in hospital in Nyasaland for two months, she returned to Britain and was treated at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where spinal injury unit founder Ludwig Guttmann pioneered the use of sport in therapy. There, she took up archery and joined an archery club. The hospital had been the site of the Stoke Mandeville Games, a sports competition for wheelchair athletes which subsequently deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five-a-side Football
Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are played indoors, or outdoors on artificial grass pitches that may be enclosed within a barrier or "cage" to prevent the ball from leaving the playing area and keep the game constantly flowing. Rules The penalty area is significantly different from football: it is semi-circular in shape, only the goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball within it, and they may or may not be allowed out. Goalkeepers are only allowed to give the ball out to another player through hands. The goalkeeper may only kick the ball to effect a save. There are no offside rules. Headers are allowed. There is no protocol of deliberate handball versus accidental handball – the referee needs to make a decision based on the distance from where the ball was hit. Yell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Clarke (five-a-side Footballer)
David Clarke (born 11 September 1970) is an English former footballer, went to New College Worcester - school for the blind and visually impaired, whose career spanned 17 years from 1995 to 2012 for the England and Great Britain blind football team."David Clarke v Wayne Rooney" Channel Four Paralympics. Sports career Clarke made 144 international appearances scoring 128 goals. He was part of the British team which finished fifth in the 5-a-side at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2016 Summer Paralympics
The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. The Games marked the first time a Latin American and South American city hosted the event, the second Southern Hemisphere city and nation, the first one being the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and also the first time a Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country hosted the event. These Games saw the introduction of two new sports to the Paralympic program: paracanoe, canoeing and the paratriathlon. The lead-up to these Paralympics were met with financial shortcomings attributed to tepid sponsor interest and ticket sales, which resulted in cuts to volunteer staffing and transport, the re-location of events and the partial deconstruction of the Deodoro Military Club, Deodoro venue cluster. However, ticket sales beg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Marine
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of Foot" on 28 October 1664, and can trace their commando origins to the formation of the 3rd Special Service Brigade, now known as 3 Commando Brigade on 14 February 1942, during the Second World War. As a specialised and adaptable light infantry and commando force, Royal Marine Commandos are trained for rapid deployment worldwide and capable of dealing with a wide range of threats. The Corps of Royal Marines is organised into 3 Commando Brigade and a number of separate units, including 47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines, and a company-strength commitment to the Special Forces Support Group. The Corps operates in all environments an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Townsend
Joseph Townsend (born 27 March 1988) is a British paratriathlete who competes in the PTWC classification. Townsend has won European and world medals as well as becoming Commonwealth Champion in 2018. He represented Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, where he finished sixth. Townsend has won the GBR Paratriathlon National Championships for four consecutive years- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. He lost both legs whilst serving in Afghanistan, after stepping on an IED in 2008. Joe Townsend is based in Eastbourne, England, where he was born. Personal life Townsend was born and brought up in Eastbourne, England and attended Ratton School. He has a wife and child. Townsend is a UK Sport Lottery Funded paratriathlete and was based at the Loughborough Triathlon Performance Centre before he moved back to his hometown of Eastbourne after the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. Military service Townsend served in the 40 Commando whilst in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan durin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ArcelorMittal Orbit
The ArcelorMittal ''Orbit'' (often referred to as the Orbit Tower or its original name, ''Orbit'') is a sculpture and observation tower in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. It is Britain's largest piece of public art, and is intended to be a permanent lasting legacy of London's hosting of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, assisting in the post-Olympics regeneration of the Stratford area. Sited between the Olympic Stadium (now called London Stadium) and the Aquatics Centre, it allows visitors to view the whole Olympic Park from two observation platforms. ''Orbit'' was designed by Turner-Prize winning artist Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond of Arup Group, an engineering firm. Announced on 31 March 2010, it was expected to be completed by December 2011. The project came about after Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell decided in 2008 that the Olympic Park needed "something extra". Designers were asked for ideas for an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zipline
A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bottom of the inclined cable by holding on to, or being attached to, the freely moving pulley. It has been described as essentially a Tyrolean traverse that engages gravity to assist its speed of movement. Its use is not confined to adventure sport, recreation, or tourism, although modern-day usage tends to favor those meanings. History Ropeways or aerial cables have been used as a method of transport in some mountainous countries for more than 2,000 years, possibly starting in China, India and Japan as early as 250 BC, remaining in use in some remote areas in China such as Nujiang (Salween) valley in Yunnan as late as 2015 before being replaced by bridges. Not all of these structures were assisted by gravity, so not all fitted the definitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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