Summer Olympics 2012 London

[singveld]

Royal Marine Commando Joe Townsend is lowered through the air carrying the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony for the 2012 Paralympics on Aug. 29 in London.

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: Swimmer Ruisi Theresa Goh of Singapore carries the flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics at the Olympic Stadium on August 29, 2012 in London, England.

 

[singveld]

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: Swimmer Ruisi Theresa Goh of Singapore carries the flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics at the Olympic Stadium on August 29, 2012 in London, England.

 

[singveld]

Swimmer Ruisi Theresa Goh of Singapore carries the flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics at the Olympic Stadium on August 29, 2012 in London, England.

 

[singveld]

Spirit in Motion: Athletes at the 2012 Paralympics

“It’s Official – London 2012 to be Biggest Paralympic Games Ever“, was the proud announcement at the Official Website of the Paralympic Movement ahead of this year’s Paralympic Games in London. While the games can not yet compete with the Olympics (over 10,000 athletes came to London just a few weeks ago), a new record has been set with over 2,400 athletes taking part at the 2012 Paralympics in the British capital. According to Wikipedia, this is “an increase of 250 athletes in comparison to the 2008 Summer Paralympics. They will represent 164 countries, 17 more than in Beijing. Fourteen countries will be making their Paralympic Games début: Antigua and Barbuda, Brunei, Cameroon, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mozambique, North Korea, San Marino, the Solomon Islands, and the US Virgin Islands“.
Leaving absolute numbers aside, the participation patterns in the Paralympics as shown in the following Worldmapper-style cartogram are not that strikingly different to those from the Olympics (a comparison to the Olympic Games can be found here). However, many interesting differences can still be spotted when looking at the details: China, and even more so Brazil are amongst the countries who (in relation) play an even bigger role, while the European dominance is slightly reduced, partly due to smaller shares of Eastern Europe (where Ukraine strikes out as one of the larger participants). In the Pacific, New Zealand’s size shrunk from is far larger number of athletes at the Olympics. The following map shows in proportion where all the sportsmen and women have traveled to London from this year (the two inset maps show the world’s population distribution in comparison and a conventional land area map as a reference):

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]

Pilot Diego Javier Munoz and Miguel Angel Clemente Solano of Spain celebrate their bronze medal in the Men's Individual B Pursuit

 

[singveld]

Great Britain's men's sitting volleyball team compete against Russia at the ExCel

 

[singveld]

Laroslav Semenenko of Ukraine readies himself for the final Men's 100m Backstroke - S6 final

 

[singveld]

Sara Head of Great Britain celebrates a point in the table tennis

 

[singveld]

Finland's Petri Posio reaches out in an attempt to stop Brazil scoring in the goalball.

 

[singveld]

Joseph Chambers of the United States tries to keep control of the ball following a heavy challenge in the wheelchair basketball

 

[singveld]

Seven-time Paralympic gold medalist Sarah Storey of Great Britain sets a world record time in the C5 pursuit, guaranteeing herself at least a silver medal in the process