Pick of the Paralympics

So as the world starts to pack down its news tents and media hubs in London’s east end and the reports and articles look to wrap up the golden success of team GB at the London Olympics not a mention goes to the pending Paralympics which hopes to be Britain’s greatest medal haul yet.

Out of all the 13 Paralympics there have been Great Britain has won a total of 1426 medals (493 gold) and is only second to the USA, we should be making a real deal about passing the 500 gold medal mark in London 2012.

The Paralympics began in 1948 with a small group of British WWII veterans and has gone from strength to strength. This year, the 14th Paralympic games, there are to be over 500 games in 21 competitive sports and over 4200 athletes and it is all going to be captured for our viewing pleasure on Channel 4 with what is set to be the largest media coverage of the Paralympics ever.

So what better time then to get clued up on the hottest Papalympian sporting talent on offer this summer?

Pearson

Lee Pearson 

The Olympic Equestrian team may have waited 60 years for their gold medal but Paralympian Pearson has been trotting them out since 2000.With 9 Paralympic golds already he is looking to expand on the British dominance in the Para-equestrian events at London 2012.

Expect to see Paralympic Team GB galloping to success between 30th August to 4th September.

The Quadfather. 

Peter Norfolk

Otherwise known as Peter Norfolk, at the age of 51 he is one of Britain's most talented wheelchair tennis players with 19 Gram Slams, 3 Championships and 4 Paralympic medals (2 gold). 

London 2012 sees Norfolk trying to defend his Paralympic men's singles title. He is also squad leader for GB wheelchair tennis team that are hoping to make some medal gains in the women's singles and doubles.

Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker

Lucy Shuker British number 1 and world number 10 wheelchair tennis player is hoping to grab her first Paralympic medal this year. After only turning pro in 2002 she seems to have the the same British luck the able-bodied competitors have had. But can she be spared on by the fantastically confident Murray Olympic gold? 

Shuker's doubles partner Jordanne Whiley is also hoping to make an impact this year. Whiley was the world's junior number 1 Chapion in 2009 and this year has seen both Whiley and Shuker playing very well , making it to the Wimbeldon wheelchair finals they lost out to Ester Vergeer and Aniek von Koot of the Netherlands.

Whiley and Shuker

This was perhaps expected given that Vergeer is currently playing with an unprecedented 457 match winning streak. She hasn't lost a match since January 2003 and with 42 Grand Slams, 22 Championships and 5 Paralympic titles she is the biggest threat to all wheelchair tennis players at London 2012.

The tennis will start on Saturday 1st September.

Eleanor Simmonds MBE

At just 17 she already has an MBE and 2 gold Paralympic medal. In Beijing she was the youngest British athlete at the games (just 13) and will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of other great swimmers such as Tricha Zorn, the most decorated Paralympian of all time with 51 medals in total (37 gold).

Eleanor Simmonds

In 2008 team GB won 41 medals in the pool putting them 4th in the table of medals. This included 11 golds, a number we are hoping to build on this year with excellent dedicated athletes like Simmonds. The swimming events take place throughout the games.

David Weir

David Weir

If Jess Ennis is the face and spirit of the GB Olympic athletics team then David Weir is the very same to the Paralympic team. Heading up the 49 strong squad GB is looking to expand on the progression it made in track and field at Beijing 2008 where they won 2 golds out of a possible 160 placing us 18th in the athletic table.

Weir is again our best hope for gold, with two Paralympic gold under his belt already and a strong, winning performance at the London Marathon earlier this year he is going to be one to watch.

Libby Clegg

Clegg

Current world champion Clegg won a silver in the 2008 100m and we will all be routing for her to repeat the success she has had in the IPC Athletics European Championships where she won the 100m and 200m. This is going to be a very exciting competition for Clegg. 

The athletics start on Thursday 30th August and continue right up to the closing ceremony.

Darren Kenny OBE

We all know who Chris Hoy is but what about Darren Kenny? Well there is a reason he is an OBE and that is because of his 15 gold medal success, 5 of which are Paralympic golds. 

Darren Kenny

Kenny will be wanting to dominate the velodrome and replicate the record-breaking success of the Olympic team which should not be too hard to envision given the golden performance made in Beijing 2008, 16 golds and 4 silver.

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Gold

After the tears and disappointment of four weeks ago only the unfaithful were contemplating a repeated defeat. On a high from the Super Saturday of the gold Olympic success, team GB came out fighting again on Sunday Andy Murray finally got a win he has been training for and truly deserved.

A week of tremendous work from the British number one tennis athlete came with an astonishing penultimate battle against the world number two Novac Djockovic, who can move effortlessly around the court and is renowned for his powerful serves and baseline returns.

The play from this match alone was enthralling, the superb players creating rallies full of dynamic and nail-biting shots, it really was a joy to watch. Murray played the best tennis of his life and looked confident and focused as he beat the Serbian in straight sets. It was this match that gave us all, and Murray himself,  the belief that he was in with a good chance of winning gold.

The replicated conditions were perfect for Murray, who clearly wanted this win more, even though this could have given Federer a Career Golden Slam. Despite Andy Murray starting well he knew that he could not let his guard down with the wall that is Roger Federer, as he has an unbelievable talent of being able to swing back into the game at any moment. The Swiss is considered the best tennis player of all time because of his ability to play consistently on all court types and to be able to have the lightest touch for a surprise serve and volley or power down to the baseline.

Murray was able to keep his focus and break serve early on, and with the crowd behind him it was difficult for Roger to find the momentum to come back, at one point he had not won a game for one hour. There were some excellent heart-stopping net rallies and some of the ground strokes Murray was hitting were beautiful. Although Murray was finding it difficult to find his first serve at times, his second serve was full of accuracy and power that Federer did not expect, causing some costly unforced errors.

The better player won on the day, the ever cool Federer taking defeat graciously, Murray declaring it his "biggest win". Now the pressure is back on with all eyes on a British Gram Slam win. Murray is yet to confirm his appearance at the US Open, due to start on 27th August, a decision he says he will make after he touches down in Canada for the Toronto Masters. But could this confidence boost be the one he needs for the win?

Questions too for Federer, is he now curving out of his peak? Has the winning of Wimbledon 2012 allowed him to feel as though he has done enough in men's singles tennis and lost his momentum? He too is yet to confirm the US Open along with many other tennis players who have pushed themselves in the London 2012 Olympics.

As we wait for the answers we bask in the golden glory of Murray and Team GB.