The Paralympics

The final day then of London 2012, an end to an historic and extraordinary 6 weeks. If in a year or two's time the Olympic Stadium is hosting football, it will be such a shame.

During my very swift weekend visit back to the UK I found myself in Gatwick, Nottingham, Eastbourne and Chislehurst but what I couldn't be drawn away from was the London Paralympics.

The gripes about the adverts aside, although trust me after watching US telly for 10 years, the UK's commercial stations are a lot less disruptive, from what I saw Channel 4 were doing a sterling job of showcasing the most watched Paralympics ever.

American TV has not shown the Paralympics in any form, which I find incredible for such a sport loving nation. Mind you the networks are advertising revenue loving as well. Cynical I know, but whilst every major country in the world is showing daily coverage, all NBC have is a 90-minute roundup show a week after the Paralympics close, and during the afternoon!

Obviously there is not a dickie bird on the Bermudian channels, although the island's solitary athlete Jessica Cooper Lewis has had a decent amount of publicity unlike the 227 US Paralympians, many war heroes, who have been disowned by their countries media.

NBC showed over 5,000 hours of coverage during the two-week Olympics attracting a record audience of 220m people but in the US there has been a lot of criticism of not just them but other networks as the Paralympics has hardly warranted a mention on any of the major TV channels these past two weeks.

I am cynical by nature but my son was already well into it and together we watched some inspirational performances, and it was the swimmers that awed me the most. The competition amongst the best athletes was ferocious and the courage of those there to represent their countries and to be good enough to be Olympians was compelling. Heroes all of them.

It is probably wrong in these politically correct times to say I was humbled but watching the coverage and since Monday following it online on the trusty BBC has been truly inspirational. I was born in a generation that would point at kids in callipers or laugh about Joey Deacon in the playground but here were remarkable human beings challenging preconceptions and winning hands down.

It has a been a phenomenal Games, and if I think back to how cynical and grumpy most people seemed to be the week before the Opening Ceremony, when I spent a few days in town, London pulled off a remarkable experience to cherish and remember forever. Proud to be a Londoner.