Inspiration and organisation

So the day finally arrived, I have been to the Para Olympics! all I can say about the standard of riding is WOW, I will explain that in a bit. On the other hand i am going with a ggrr for the organisation. But to any one debating going, just do it, you would be foolish to miss it if given the chance.

I will start at the beginning, which for me was a very early start and a few falling objects on my head, thank you Phoenix for that wake up call. Mum and I were delivered to the nearest train station that was mobility friendly only to find we could catch the train earlier than planned, and that it like every other train was running 10 minuted late. The connection was easy, but the weather decided to turn into the normal British summer. How much did I regret leaving my leather jacket at home. Once we reached New Cross Gate we were on new ground and totally reliant on the directions I had copied from the web page. After navigating a flight of stairs not designed for crutches we found our way to the connecting bus. The bus driver was lovely and very accommodating and despite the heavy traffic we reach the venue in good time.

Now if you read the tickets and the web site the venue has plenty of food courts and space to chill and relax before and after your event, and like many others we arrived with 3 hours to spare to eat, relax comfort stops etc. Yea right! Your aren't even allowed into the venue at Greenwich till an hour before the competition starts. So along with many others, many with children we are left to wander for a few hours. Now we walked several games volunteers where we could get a coffee etc as now the rain had been replaced with a wind that could move a small child. It turns out if you go in the way we were advised to, the nearest anything is a good mile walk to Blackheath quite literally right across Blackheath. So off I hop accompanied by my 70 year old mu, who has her own issues with mobility. Although it was reasonably flat we thought it was 20 minutes before we got there, and found a little gem. A restaurant / bar called Chapters, which I can't recommend enough. The tea and coffee were perfect, staff friendly and helpful and the cost was lower than your standard coffee shop.

After an hour or so we began the hobble back, and I do mean hobble by now, and going shuffled to the front of the queue with the other more fragile spectators. They even found mum a chair which was nice as the 1pm gate opening soon became a 1.30pm. Now all these rumours about airport security are not understated. all coats and bags are x rayed, and due to my crutches I had to be frisked, something that could have been avoided if they xrayed my sticks, but no that wasn't policy apparently. Now if it wasn't for two charming old ladies who pre warned me, I would of ended up walking the mile and half across Greenwich park, but thanks to them I knew to ask for a buggy ride to the actual event. It was easy enough to get that ride when I knew what to ask for, however what was commented on and what I saw happen, was the people who just assumed anyone could use this and tried to abuse the service at the expense of those who physically were unable to manage that walk. Anyway we arrived at the venue and unlike the mainstream Olympics we found that there was a free for all regarding seating. So once we found the coffee and not the mechanise stall we made our way to the arena. Because I was on sticks I got waved into the wheelchair area which had a perfect view.

The dressage was at a very high level, and what was very interesting was the difference of assistance and physical aids each rider needed, yet they compete against each other. Some people had callers, others had a buddy horse that stood in the arena but not the competition zone to calm the horse. What was a shame was the fact there was only 1/3 of the capacity in the arena and I hope on the other 3 days will have larger audiences as it was only day one. What was happening was people who went to the morning session were dashing round to buy afternoon tickets which was nice to see. There were a few other differences to the dressage event, applause wasn't allowed as a rider entered the ring and then depending on the notification from the announcer we could either applaud the rider once the horse was back on lead rein, or in some cases wave to the rider as a show of appreciation. This was strange, but as mum explained to me the horses used for these riders aren't trained to the same level of competition with large audiences, so applause could startle them. The 1st half was blessed with no rain and just a very nippy breeze. Half time was called and the mass attack for coffee and hot food began. During the 1st half we had made acquaintance of the people next to us who looked after our seats, as we joined the masses for loo, caffeine and food. After being charged near £4 for some manky chips and nearly as much for a fluid resembling coffee, we made our way back to our seats and the heavens opened.

By opened I mean full on autumnal rain complete with icy wind. It was not pleasant, but bearable. However it did highlight a naughty problem, the plastic surfaces put down for the ease of wheelchairs and a coating of water and mud are lethal for crutches. I was doing an impression of Donald duck on ice at one point to reclaim my seat. We got there just in time to see our British competitor take the lead, the rain didn't taint his performance one little bit. The rain slowly eased as the number of competitors diminished, and by the last two just the wind remained. But not one rider let the delightful weather hamper their performance, and all of them gave their best. As the scoring was for both team and individual events, it is hard to tell you a lot except Briton is in the lead on the individual competition. As far as I am concerned, and from what I heard from those around me, each one of these riders need to be a medallist, there were riders who were blind, who had cerebral palsy  or in one case had a broken back from being a mainstream rider. But not one of them rode as a disabled person, but as an athletic representing their country at the highest level.

Despite the weather and being cold and wet to the skin, we were sad to see it end, and I think had I been fitter we would have done what a lot of others did and try to get tickets to another day. After the obligatory trip to the official Olympic stall were mum gained some badges for her camp blanket and a program of the day, we made our way out. Despite two slips on the plastic floor we made it to the shuttle to the DLR and worked our way home. Now any one with any sense would say don't attempt the DLR or the tube in the middle of rush hour on crutches. But to be honest Para Olympic fever seems to have made the commuters as a whole far more tolerant and understanding. Granted there is always the odd twit in the world, and most of them seemed to be disembarking at Morden, but as a whole it was an easy journey. So happy and very tired we went home, full of pride that we are now in a world where there is such high calibre of riding, in all abilities.

Its been a long day, but the talent we witnessed and down right courage was worth every bit of effort we spent getting there. I hope all the athletes get the recognition they deserve. I just wish some of the organisers of these events used a little more common sense when planning these events, and made instructions clearer. But as that's my only gripe it will soon be forgotten, unlike the skills with a horse I have seen. If there is one thing I have gained from today, it is no matter how bad my back etc gets, I can still do the things like riding and driving I enjoy, just in a different format. These people who participate in the Para Olympics should not be labelled disabled but instead they should said to have extreme ability.