Paralympians begin gold rush quest (From Times Series)

Paralympians begin gold rush quest

3:09am Thursday 30th August 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Britain's Paralympians will be hoping for an early gold rush as the Games gets under way in earnest.

Wednesday night saw a stunning opening to the London 2012 games as more than 62,000 cheering fans packed into the Olympic Stadium in Stratford to officially open the event.

Now it is the turn of the competitors, as early medal hopefuls including swimmer-turned cyclist Sarah Storey, shooter Di Coates and Ben Quilter, who will be going for gold in judo.

Paralympics veteran Storey, 34, has a truly remarkable story, having already achieved 18 medals - 16 of which were awarded as a swimmer before her switch from the pool to the bike ahead of Beijing 2008. Storey, who was born with a deformed left hand, will appear at the velodrome in the C5 Individual Pursuit, having won the C4 in Beijing. This is her sixth Games and she is chasing her eighth gold.

Also appearing on the track is six-time Paralympic champion Darren Kenny, who has restricted movement down his right side following a car crash aged 18. He defends his 1km time trial title alongside fellow Brit Rik Waddon. Meanwhile, Ben Quilter, who is visually impaired, will be going for gold on the mat, as he takes part in the under 60kg category in judo.

UK Sport have set ParalympicsGB the minimum target of winning 103 medals from at least 12 different sports, with the overall goal of once again finishing second in the medal table. Britain won 102 medals, including 42 golds, in Beijing four years ago to claim second place for a third consecutive Paralympic Games.

The Games got off to a stunning start as 62,000 people crammed into the stadium as millions around the world watched on. The event was attended by the Queen and involved a commentary by Professor Stephen Hawking. The highlight was arguably double amputee Afghan war veteran Joe Townsend, who flew in on a zip wire to light the flame.

Six Paralympians and former competitors - including Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson - were flown into the stadium in gold wheelchairs. Accompanying the athletics star were fellow Paralympians Robert Barrett, Kay Forshaw, Tony Griffin, Ian Rose and Marc Woods.

More than 11 million people watched the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Channel 4. The peak audience of 11.2 million was the channel's biggest in a decade and was four times the number that tuned in to the BBC to watch the Paralympic Games opening in Beijing four years ago.

The opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games drew a UK TV audience of 26.9 million.