Friday 27 July 2012

Olympics & Paralympics 2012

There is always so much hype surrounding the Olympic Games, so I thought I'd introduce you all to someone very important for the Paralympic Games... say "Hello" to Mandeville - the mascot for the Paralympic Games 2012.  He's a cute and cuddly figure who represents the ethos of the Paralympic Games.

Each Paralympic and Olympic Games has a mascot, everyone knows that, right?  But I was amazed to find out that the mascot is usually an animal native to the area or a human figure representing the cultural heritage of the host country.  I must say that I haven't seen many of these characters wandering around the UK recently!  But, there are important symbols coming through the mascot.  The head shape represents the 3 colours of the Paralympic Games symbol, the taxi light on it's forehead represents the London Black Taxis and the wristband on the right wrist is a personal best timer to help keep track of performance.
Paralympic Symbol

Whilst typing this tonight, I'm watching the fantastic opening ceremony of the Olympics and Paralympics and I must say that I'm proud to support Team GB... we saw the Olympic flame pass through a local town back in May which feels ages ago and tonight's ceremony concludes the journey of the flame and it is a great celebration of everything British.

No doubt I'll be writing again about the Olympics and Paralympics over the next few weeks - I'm not extremely "sporty" but enjoy watching the heats and finals with my children - it shows them how hard work and determination can pay off.  The variety of events and ages of competitors makes it interesting too.  This year, we are going to find all of the countries (if we can!) on our world map as they achieve their medals - quick geography lesson and fun at the same time!

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