Part Two – the Paralympics

Tonight is the opening ceremony of London 2012 Paralympic Games. Romania will be competing with its largest ever paralympic team, almost double the size of its delegation to Beijing four years ago. And this will be the largest Paralympic Games ever, with over two million tickets sold, and all the venues selling out fast.

I started the celebrations early in Bucharest, playing sport last weekend with athletes from the National Paralympic Committee in the heart of the Old Town at Piata Sfantul Anton, and enjoying music, football and street dance with our friends from School 136 in Ferentari.

This was truly in the spirit of the London 2012 games – to make sport available to everybody, for fitness and fun, and turn it into a real celebration of the talent that is in every one of us.

I was impressed by the dedication of Romania’s Paralympians to their sport, their willingness to share and pass on their skills to the next generation, as well as their determination to overcome their disabilities and play a full part in society.

Attitudes towards disability have changed dramatically since the first games for Paralympic athletes were held at Stoke Mandeville hospital in London just after the Second World War. I am proud that Britons, such as the President of Romania’s Paralympic Committee Sally Wood Lamont, have done so much to support the rights of disabled people in Romania.

There is much more to do, for instance by making more sports facilities accessible to disabled athletes. I hope the London Paralympic Games, and medals for Romania’s athletes, will inspire more progress in the future.