The London 2012 Paralympic Games, which will run from Wednesday August 29 through to Sunday September 9, will be the second largest multi-sport event in the world after the Olympics. There will be 20 sports, 4,500 athletes and 2,300 officials taking part and 1.5 million tickets for sale.

 

"August 29 2012 will be a great day in the history of sport for people with a disability in the UK," said Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of teh Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

 

"We won our bid as one bid, for both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games and the Paralympic Movement began in the UK and have a special place in the history and development of sport in this country."

 

It was Sir Ludwig Guttmann who organised a sports competition in 1948 which became known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, involving World War Two veterans with spinal cord injuries.

 

In 1952 competitors from Holland took part in the competition, giving an international flavour to the movement. The first Olympic-style games for athletes with disabilities were held in Rome in 1960, officially called the Ninth Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games and are considered to be the first Paralympic Games.

 

"Our vision for the London 2012 Paralympic Games is to set new standards for services, facilities and opportunities for people who play sport with a disability," said Coe. "London will host the best ever Paralympic Games in 2012, and ensure that a lasting legacy is left for sport for people with a disability."

Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, said: " People with a disability can be part of 2012 in as many ways as able-bodied people – whether watching, volunteering, getting business or work, or even competing in the Paralympic Games itself. London 2012 is not for one group of people, but for all of us. "

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: "The London 2012 Paralympic Games will complete a fantastic summer of sport staged in the world's greatest city for embracing and celebrating diversity at every level. That is why the world's Paralympic elite athletes will receive the warmest of welcomes from Londoners and enthusiastic support from the crowds throughout the Games as they compete for glory."

Mike Brace, Chairman of the British Paralympic Association, said: "This will be a fantastic celebration of Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. We will put on the best Paralympic Games ever and we are all working towards making that happen. We look forward to welcoming Paralympians back home to the UK in 2012."