This year, the Paralympics were streamed live on YouTube for the first time—and it seemed like the media finally woke up to the idea that viewers would care about athletes who don’t just compete at the top of their game, but overcome physiological obstacles to do so.
While the 2012 Olympics ceremonies were a mishmash of geriatric rockers, Harry Potter and the London Blitz, the Paralympics gave us Professor Stephen Hawking and Sir Ian McKellen at the start, and Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z for Sunday’s closing ceremony (above.)
At the games themselves, openly gay equestrian Lee Pearson won gold in the team dressage event, silver in the championship dressage and bronze in freestyle. Britain’s women’s sitting volleyball team, led by lesbian captain Claire Harvey, lost a tough match to Japan.
