Beijing 2008

After 12 days of thrilling competition and spectacle, the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing ended with Britain in a fantastic second place in the medal table. Paul Carter picks his 12 highlights of the Games, sums up the 12 days and looks at one of the biggest controversies – Paralympic classification

Great Britain’s golden glory

For all who experienced the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, most would agree that it has been a huge success.

For Great Britain, the squad were even more successful than the 2004 Games in Athens, exceeding the total of 94 medals.

UK Sport had set a seemingly ambitious target of 95 medals before the Beijing Games had begun, but that was easily eclipsed as the British team ended the competition with 102 medals to their name.

Swimming made up the bulk of the medal haul, with 41 coming from the Water Cube, while the outstanding cyclists returned with 17.

The success did mask some disappointment, as the athletics squad only won two golds, both courtesy of the brilliant David Weir.

The athletics squad had been set a seemingly impossible target of 30 medals going into the Games, and it was always difficult to see where those would come from.

In the end they picked up a creditable 17, but it left many asking questions as to why such a tough target was set.

However, the British squad produced an outstanding performace to finish a comfortable second in the overall medal table.

Phil Lane, ParalympicsGB chef de mission, said: “Many of our champions have defended titles and there are a whole range of people who have stepped up and won gold medals.

“Athletes such as David Roberts, Darren Kenny and Lee Pearson have reproduced their performances from Athens, which is exceptional. A dozen others have won two golds, and for a 13-year-old [Ellie Simmonds] to win two golds is fabulous,” he said.

With 58 per cent of the 206 British Paralympians in China competing in their first Games, the squad looks to be in a good position ahead of London in four years’ time.

Lane said: “Many of our young people in the squad have achieved personal bests and season’s bests.

“This has been a great experience for them and will stand them in good stead for the future.”

A great Games, but marred by controversy

For all the smiles and celebrations that has surrounded an undoubtedly successful Paralympic Games, it will still be remembered as much for events away from competition, as it will for individual achievement.

The issue of classification was to rear its ugly head before the Games had even begun, with British field athlete Rebecca Chin being reclassified on arrival in Beijing.

She went on to compete in the F38 shot put, where she finished tenth.

But when she competed in the F38 discus, and threw a world record to win silver, classifiers lodged a complaint, and she was eventually told she did not fit into any category, and could not compete.

Irish cerebral palsy football player Derek Malone was also banned, after officials decided he had too much movement, something he argued was due to hard work and physical conditioning.

Similar issues surrounded the Australian athlete Jess Gallagher, who was told her sight was too good to compete alongside other visually-impaired competitors.

Classification is an extremely serious issue for the International Paralympic Committee, as it forms the cornerstone for disabillity competition, and all athletes agree that it is a necessary evil that needs to be tightly enforced.

But a system that only decides if competitors are unable to compete once they have arrived at a Games is a system that surely needs urgent review.

1. Ellie Simmonds’s first gold

One of the highlights of the Games, without any doubt.

Ellie Simmonds, from Swansea, became Great Britain’s youngest-ever individual gold medallist in either the Paralympic or Olympic Games at the age of just 13, after storming to a sensational victory in the S6 100m freestyle in the Water Cube.

Afterwards, a sobbing Simmonds was barely able to contain her delight, and described the result as “just amazing”.

She said: “I’m just so happy, I didn’t believe that I’d be able to do that! All I did was kick my legs and just go for it.”

She then reinforced her iconic status by smashing her own world record by seven seconds as she took a second gold, in the S6 400m freestyle.

2. Sascha’s double hat-trick

Sascha Kindred said in Disability Now back in May that his ambition was to defend his 200m medley and 100m breaststroke titles successfully for the second time – what he called his double hat-trick.

And he did. He won his third successive SB7 100m breaststroke title, and broke his own world record, after touching home in 1:22.18.

“I managed to bring out the performance at the right time,” he said. Earlier in the meet, he had successfully defended his SM6 200m individual medley title, again breaking his own world record.

3. Dave Roberts equals Tanni's record

No arguments here, surely, as the Welsh swimmer David Roberts equalled Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson’s haul of 11 Paralympic gold medals. Roberts reached the milestone by winning the S7 50m freestyle, his 16th Paralympic medal in total, in the process becoming one of Britain’s greatest ever Paralympians.

He also broke his own Paralympic record for the second time in the Games, touching home in 27.95 seconds to secure his fourth Beijing gold.

“That’s the one I came here for. Winning that one puts me equal with Tanni Grey-Thompson and to be equal with her is unbelievable,” he said afterwards.

“At the end of the day, I am a small town bloke from a small valley, but I’ve got a big heart. It’s great to be able to do something like that.”

Roberts was later given the honour of carrying the GB flag at the closing ceremony.

4. GB win first ever Paralympic rowing golds

Britain’s Helene Raynsford and Tom Aggar made history by becoming the first rowing gold medallists at the Paralympics.

The sport, long associated with British Olympic success, made its Paralympic debut at the Beijing Games, and Britain’s rowers got off to the perfect start.

Raynsford swept aside the opposition in the women’s arms-only single scull, winning by 13 seconds from Luidmila Vauchok from Belarus.

“I said after the world championships last year that I would come back and win gold in Beijing,” she said.

Aggar was pushed hard in his race by Ukrainian Oleksandr Petrenko, but did enough to win gold in the men’s arms-only single scull.

He said: “It’s our first year at the Paralympics, so to come out on top is incredible.

“We’ve been rubbing shoulders with the Olympic rowers, and they’re a huge inspiration to us, especially after their success. Hopefully we’ve done them proud.”

5. The crash…

There was high drama, chaos, controversy, and heartbreak for Shelly Woods, who had an outside chance of a medal when she lined up for the T54 5,000m final.

But on the penultimate lap, the Swiss racer Edith Hunkeler veered out of control and flipped over, taking out six other racers.

When the remaining racers came back around the final bend, they had to dodge officials and first-aiders who were running onto the track.

Woods came through into second place. She said her silver was “a dream come true” and took her place on the medal podium.

But the USA, Australia and Switzerland had appealed successfully against the outcome and the final had to be re-run.

There was fury among the British team that Woods had been allowed to collect her silver medal while an appeal was still taking place.

6… then Shelly finally wins her first Paralympic medal

Shelly Woods laid to rest the demons from the race that never was by winning bronze in the re-run final.

“This one, no-one can take it off me,” she said. “The first time I was ecstatic, but this one’s for real.”

Second time around, she found herself in fourth or fifth for much of the race, but produced a strong sprint finish. Woods said it had been a “crazy few days” since the original race. “The only one who could have defeated me today was myself.”

7. David Weir finally wins his first gold

More organisational chaos nearly snatched David Weir’s first gold medal from his hands.

Weir had triumphed in the Bird’s Nest in the T54 800m final.

But the race was ordered to be re–run after the Australians complained that Kurt Fearnley had raced from the wrong lane.

Fortunately, the Australian team later withdrew their appeal and a relieved Weir could keep his gold medal.

Weir said: “It has been a very difficult 12 hours but I now have the gold medal that I have worked so hard for and can focus on my remaining two events.”

He later went on to win a second gold, in the men’s T54 1,500m – despite another dramatic crash - an amazing achievement considering his valiant struggle with a virus.

8. Oscar glory

“Blade runner” Oscar Pistorius claimed the final track gold of the 2008 Paralympics as he won the T44 400m with a truly stunning display.

Pistorius dismantled the world record of 51.24 by storming to victory in a time of 47.51.

Pistorius said: “I’m so ecstatic. I couldn’t be happier with the way everything’s gone over the past two weeks and to finish with an occasion like this is just fantastic.”

Pistorius ended the Games with three golds – in the 100m, 200m and 400m.

9. Perfect Pearson
Equestrian Lee Pearson maintained his perfect Paralympic record as he won his ninth successive Paralympic gold.

Pearson led the way in style with a score of 77.06 per cent in the freestyle to music as Great Britain scored an impressive one-two, with Ricky Balshaw taking silver.

“I want to cry but I can’t,” said Pearson. “I’m over the moon with my 100 per cent success rate.”

He has never won anything less than gold at the Paralympics. “I rode my arse off and I couldn’t have done any more. I’m exhausted but I just want to enjoy my success.”

10. Our awesome cyclists

The cyclists were simply awesome, and carried on where TeamGB’s Olympic cyclists had left off in Beijing.

Simon Richardson won Britain’s shock first gold of the Games – and a new world record - in the LC3-4 1km time trial in the Laoshan Velodrome. He later won another gold in the individual pursuit LC3.

Aileen McGlynn, along with pilot Ellen Hunter, successfully defended her title in the women’s 1km time trial, shaving over a second off her own world record. They also won the individual pursuit B&VI 1-3. Darren Kenny blasted his way to victory in the CP3 individual pursuit, and then claimed his own second gold in the CP3 kilo time trial.

But probably the finest performance, possibly from the entire British team, was that of Sarah Storey.

She smashed her own world record on her way to winning the LC1-2/CP4 women’s individual pursuit, posting a time so fast it would have secured a top-eight finish at the Olympics. “The fact that a Paralympian can finish in that sort of time and that sort of position is amazing,” she said.

Storey’s husband Barney piloted Anthony Kappes to victory over Australia in both the B&VI sprint and in the kilo time trial.

Darren Kenny, Jody Cundy and Mark Bristow beat China to gold in the men’s team sprint, and other golds went to Cundy in the 1km time trial LC2, and Bristow in the 1km time trial LC1.

Britain finished with a haul of 13 medals, 12 of them gold, more than half of the 21 track golds available. They also won another four cycling golds on the road.

Quite simply, the team of the Games.

11. Skelhon nears perfection as he scores a gold

Matt Skelhon won Britain’s first shooting gold of the Games, with a near-perfect display.

Skelhon shot a perfect 10 in all six of his first series, scoring a world record-equalling 600 points in the R3-10m air rifle prone at Beijing’s Shooting Hall Range.

The standard was so high that fellow Brit Nathan Milgate did not make the final with a score of 599.

In the final, Skelhon scored 104.9, and needed fractions to separate him from Chinese shooter Zhang Cuiping, who took silver.

Skelhon said: “I am satisfied with 704.9 [in total], although I could have done better. I actually put a lot of pressure on myself.”

12. The Quadfather

Peter Norfolk successfully defended his Paralympic tennis title in the quad singles final with a comprehensive victory – winning his third successive Paralympic gold.

The 47-year-old, nicknamed “The Quadfather”, overcame Johan Andersson of Sweden 6-2, 6-2.

The gold added to the bronze he had already picked up in the quad doubles with Jamie Burdekin.

“The atmosphere out there was the best I’ve ever played in. It was stirring,” said Norfolk. He vowed to return to defend his title in London in four years’ time. “If this is what it’s like in China, imagine what it will be like in London. I can’t wait.”