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  • Created by neil.ross | 10 September 2012 | 10:08:20

    A week or so before the Paralympic Games started, comedian Laurence Clark wrote in The Guardian:

    "I came to realise that the less fortunate you are perceived to be, the less you have to achieve before you're labelled 'inspiring'. It was a polite way of people telling me they thought I probably wouldn't amount to much, but had somehow surpassed their low expectations."

  • Created by neil.ross | 10 September 2012 | 10:07:52

    Day 4 at the Wheelchair Fencing sees the Team Epee competition return to Paralympics for women. The team events in fencing can be very exciting for competitors and spectators alike. The format is based on three fencers forming a team for each qualifying nation, a minimum of one category B fencer must be included in each team line-up. Each fencer competes against each other over nine matches, each match first to five points and the team reaching 45 overall first wins and progresses through to the next round.

  • Created by neil.ross | 07 September 2012 | 13:38:01

    Day 3 at the Wheelchair Fencing is Sabre day. Arguably the most dynamic and exciting of the three weapons used in modern fencing, the Sabre is based on the cavalry sword with a lightweight flexible blade, a straight handle, and a curved guard that protects the hand and fingers. The sabre blade can be used to attack with a cutting action or with the point. The target area of the body is everything above the waist, which is a tip of the hat to the cavalry fighting on horseback where it was considered 'bad form' to cut the horse.

  • Created by neil.ross | 07 September 2012 | 09:27:39

    Team GB fan

    The most fascinating thing about our early morning train journey down to the Olympic Park, according to my disabled son William, aged nine, was that "the train had tables!"

    I was hoping that this visit was going to inspire him. This is the boy who came last on sports day. This is the boy who nobody wanted to pick for their team.

  • Created by neil.ross | 06 September 2012 | 11:32:21

    Following the hotly contested Foil competition the Wheelchair Fencing weapon changes to Epee, the heaviest of the three weapons that are used for competition. The Epee is closely related to the duelling weapon favoured for settling matters of honour. The modern competition weapon however has a spring loaded tip that registers hits electronically. The weight needed to depress the tip is equivalent to the pressure needed to puncture human skin!

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