:00:23. > :00:29.Hi everyone, I'm Ricky. This is Newsround. Welcome back to the
:00:29. > :00:34.Olympic Park. Tonight, the 14th Paralympic Games will get started
:00:34. > :00:37.in that beautiful stadium behind me. After the success of Team GB, all
:00:37. > :00:43.our attention turns to our Paralympic hopefuls, who are aiming
:00:43. > :00:48.to finish near the top of the leaderboard. In this programme we
:00:48. > :00:55.will guide you through the next 11 days of sport. So let's begin.
:00:55. > :00:59.It's another golden route to the line for British cycling! He is
:00:59. > :01:08.absolutely flying! A wonderful moment for David Weir, his second
:01:08. > :01:18.gold medal. I am so happy! I didn't believe
:01:18. > :01:37.
:01:37. > :01:40.This is set to be the biggest Paralympics ever - a magnificent
:01:40. > :01:43.end to an incredible summer of sport. Over two-and-a-half million
:01:43. > :01:47.people have tickets to watch the events in the venues, with plenty
:01:47. > :01:53.more watching at home. Lucky people! So what can they expect to
:01:53. > :01:59.see? We have done with those five- coloured rings for now. East London
:01:59. > :02:02.is geared up for the Paralympics. Over 4,000 athletes are here and
:02:02. > :02:07.ready and with nearly twice the number of medals to play for, than
:02:07. > :02:12.at the Olympics this is the world's biggest sporting event right now.
:02:12. > :02:15.But why so many more medals? To make things fair, the 20 Paralympic
:02:15. > :02:18.sports are divided into different competitions using a special
:02:18. > :02:22.classification system. Depending on their level of
:02:22. > :02:26.disability, athletes are given a number that determines which events
:02:26. > :02:32.they they compete in and who they'll be up against. All that
:02:32. > :02:39.means that over the next 12 days you will see nearly 30 finals of
:02:39. > :02:46.the 100 metres, some competing with prosthetic limbs, some without.
:02:46. > :02:49.Tandem, tri-cycle events on the track and road and swimers with
:02:49. > :02:53.different conditions in the same race and a few sports you didn't
:02:54. > :02:58.see at the Olympics like the brutal wheelchair rugby. Four years ago
:02:58. > :03:08.Britain's Paralympians came away from Beijing with 102 medals and
:03:08. > :03:11.they're hoping to go at least one better at London 2012.
:03:11. > :03:13.We'll bring you the big stories from the Games here on Newsround,
:03:13. > :03:16.of course, but the events themselves won't be shown on the
:03:16. > :03:21.BBC because Channel 4 is where you'll see all the action. You'll
:03:21. > :03:26.be fronting Channel 4's morning programme throughout the Games. You
:03:26. > :03:29.must sob excited to be -- you must be so excited to be part of the
:03:29. > :03:32.Olympics. I am so excited especially you showing all those
:03:32. > :03:38.athletes taking part in Beijing it makes you realise it's so close,
:03:38. > :03:41.starting tomorrow. They've changed the loga. Looking good. The people
:03:41. > :03:43.are pouring into the stadium there already and they're ready for a
:03:43. > :03:47.really big night at the opening ceremony.
:03:47. > :03:51.Tell us about your story, you lost the use of your legs when you were
:03:51. > :03:54.younger. What happened to you and is it important that the
:03:54. > :03:58.Paralympics are taking place in London? It's so important. When I
:03:58. > :04:02.was a teenager I used to be a competitive runner, I used to do
:04:02. > :04:06.long distance and cross-country. Overnight I got meningitis which is
:04:07. > :04:14.a disease, and I spent a year in hospital and while I was there I
:04:14. > :04:18.lost both my legs below the knees, similar to Johnnie Peacock, a Great
:04:18. > :04:22.Britain sprinter. And Oscar Pistorius, everyone is talking
:04:22. > :04:25.about him. He hrot both his legs and is using special equipment to
:04:25. > :04:30.make sure he can run. You have used the same kind of thing, tell us
:04:30. > :04:33.about it and did what it feel like to wear those? It was so cool,
:04:33. > :04:38.really it was. As somebody who used to be a runner I just really wanted
:04:38. > :04:41.to get back in running again. put the blades on. It just felt
:04:41. > :04:45.brilliant. Cow feel like you had the potential to run but they're
:04:45. > :04:49.really hard work. It's not easy. I really respect Oscar Pistorius as a
:04:49. > :04:52.result of trying them, definitely. Ellie Simmonds is again the poster
:04:52. > :04:55.girl of the Paralympics. She's about 17 now, I think, she was 14
:04:55. > :04:58.when she got her two golds in Beijing. All this pressure, we
:04:58. > :05:02.always talk about pressure but really must be a lot on her
:05:02. > :05:07.shoulders. It's a lot of pressure on Ellie because everybody knows
:05:07. > :05:12.her now. When she went to Beijing people just just knew she was young
:05:12. > :05:16.starting out, she has stiff competition from a young American
:05:16. > :05:20.this year. She's going to really try and if Ellie is on top form I
:05:20. > :05:30.think she can get more gold medals. Best of luck with your Channel 4
:05:30. > :05:31.
:05:31. > :05:34.morning show, I will be watching. So Britain's Paralympians are
:05:34. > :05:37.hoping for over 100 medals at these Games. But have you ever wondered
:05:37. > :05:40.how these top athletes started out? One man who knows all about
:05:40. > :05:43.competing at the top level is former GB wheelchair basketball
:05:43. > :05:46.star - Ade Adepitan. Here's his story of how he got to the top.
:05:46. > :05:51.kind of see myself as the kid who never gave up. Until the age of
:05:51. > :05:57.three I lived in Nigeria and I contracted polio at six months. It
:05:57. > :06:02.meant I was unable to walk without the use of calipers, which were
:06:02. > :06:07.like iron rods that the doctors put on my leg and connected to my shoe
:06:07. > :06:11.and on my first day of school I remember walking into the
:06:11. > :06:14.playground and seeing a group of kids playing football. The guys
:06:14. > :06:19.looked at me and they thought there is no way he could play sport and
:06:19. > :06:25.in the final play time they allowed me to play football. They told me
:06:25. > :06:32.to go in goal. I imagined to jump to one side and save what was going
:06:32. > :06:35.to be a goal and I went from this crazy looking, weird kind of kid,
:06:35. > :06:44.to this sporting hero in one afternoon, just because of that
:06:44. > :06:49.save. That moment changed my life. I saw some guys from the Great
:06:49. > :06:54.Britain wheelchair basketball team training and they were amazing.
:06:54. > :06:58.They totally changed my ideas, my perceptions. They were doing
:06:58. > :07:02.wheelies, spinning around, they had massive muscles and that moment is
:07:02. > :07:06.when I looked at them and I thought, this is what I want to do. This is
:07:06. > :07:15.where I want to be. When I finally got selected for the team it was
:07:15. > :07:20.just one of the best moments of my life. Yes! My dream started when I
:07:20. > :07:27.was probably about nine years old. I didn't make it into the Great
:07:27. > :07:29.Britain wheelchair basketball team until I was 27.
:07:29. > :07:33.It's special. It was the best moment. It doesn't matter whether
:07:33. > :07:40.you have a disability, if you believe in yourself anything is
:07:40. > :07:43.possible. Cheers, Ade. Over on the Newsround
:07:43. > :07:53.website, you've been telling us about how excited you are about the
:07:53. > :08:06.
:08:06. > :08:09.Paralympics. Loads of have you been Now, the Paralympic flame has been
:08:09. > :08:12.making its way around London before heading to that stadium behind me
:08:12. > :08:14.for this evening's opening ceremony. But they're miles behind schedule -
:08:14. > :08:18.nearly two-and-a-half hours now - and organisers think they may need
:08:18. > :08:21.to use a back-up flame to light the cauldron tonight. On its way around
:08:21. > :08:31.London the flame's visited the penguins at London Zoo, to Lord's
:08:31. > :08:32.
:08:32. > :08:37.cricket ground, and also made a visit to a Hindu temple. They
:08:37. > :08:41.prepare as hard. They dedicate as much time and sacrifice as much as
:08:41. > :08:45.any other athlete. So just a couple of hours until we get to see
:08:45. > :08:48.another fantastic opening ceremony. We are being spoilt this year. The
:08:48. > :08:52.Queen will be here along with Prince William and his wife, Kate.
:08:52. > :08:55.It's going to be a fantastic spectacle. We hear the theme is