Paralympic News

2 Years to go

Sunday 29th August  marked two years to go to the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, focusing the minds of British athletes, coaches and support staff on the work still to be done ahead of their home Games.

UK Sport, the nation’s elite sports agency, agrees milestone targets each year, which are set by every sport funded via the World Class Performance Programme. For the 2010 competition season the Paralympic sports' medal target range for their milestone events (the majority being World Championships) is between 65-99 medals.

At this stage in the season, with many events still to take place, the Paralympic sports as a collective have already won 69 medals at major championships, meaning progress towards London 2012 two years out is firmly on track. This was also reflected in UK Sport’s recent Mission 2012 update.

Individual examples include the four medals won by the visually impaired judo squad and three medals won by the disability sailing squad at their respective 2010 World Championships, where, in both cases, targets were exceeded.

Peter Keen, Director of Performance at UK Sport, said: “Two years out from the start of the Paralympic Games in London, it is fantastic to see so many Paralympic sports meeting and even exceeding their own targets, which have been agreed with UK Sport for the current season. With sports like adaptive rowing and para-equestrian dressage still to compete in their milestone events for 2010, we’re confident that Paralympic sport in the UK is in a great position to succeed in 2012.