Trafalgar square hosts International Paralympic day - as a taster for next year's Paralympics.
Originally published by LDDA - The Liberal Democrat Disability Association
International Paralympic Day will allow the public to watch sports like blind football, power-lifting, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball. The official invitation will then be issued to athletes around the world to compete in the 2012 Games. The three-week window for buying tickets opens on Friday. The Paralympics follow the Olympic Games and run from 29 August to 9 September next year.
British paralympians Ellie Simmonds and Sascha Kindred will also be present in the square during the day. "I want to see lots of people in Trafalgar Square," said Locog chair Lord Coe. "Whenever we have showcased Paralympic sport in busy locations it has always been a success. This is a great opportunity for young people to understand what they are watching, that - and we are going to have to redefine some of these terms - 99 per cent of able-bodied people could not get within a country mile of. For everybody, paralympic sport is, and would be, a challenge."
Coe admitted to having a favourite paralympic sport, adding: "I do enjoy paralympic athletics. We had three stunning wheelchair races on the penultimate day in Korea (at the World Championships)."
Thursday's events last for nearly 12 hours and kick off at 0815 BST with the first round of sports being showcased and a world record attempt for the longest rally in a sitting volleyball match. The second session starts at midday and at 1315 BST, South African athlete Oscar Pistorius and some local schoolchildren will run on the track in front of the National Portrait Gallery.
A bronze sculpture of Pistorius by artist Ben Dearnley will also be unveiled.
One of the final session highlights, from 1500 BST, is a penalty shoot-out at 1800 BST with Great Britain's blind football five-a-side squad competing against former England internationals Ray Wilkins and Paul Merson, former professional Chris Kamara and youth team players from Chelsea and Swindon.
The official call to next year's competitors to come to London will take place at 1900 BST.