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British athletes and media were celebrated on Saturday at the International Paralympic Committee’s 2013 Paralympic Awards in Athens, Greece, which recognised the top achievements from the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
In one of the highest profile categories of the night, Great Britain’s David Weir won the award for Best Male which celebrated his London 2012 performance where he won gold medals in all his events.
Weir won four golds in eight days in the 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and marathon distances in the T54 class.
Weir said: “It’s just great being recognised for what I did in London. It was an amazing achievement, and obviously the IPC could see competing in the T54 events and coming away with four gold medals was one of the toughest things in the world. I fulfilled my dream of coming away with four gold medals at a home Games.”
British media organisations were also lauded for their support of the Paralympic Games, receiving three out of the four Paralympic Media Awards for coverage of London 2012 – a reflection in part of how much British media got behind their home Games.
Channel 4 won the award for Best Broadcast after showcasing more than 500 hours of London 2012 coverage, while Telegraph Media Group won the Best Written (print and online) award, BBC World Service won Best Radio.
Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the BPA, said of the British awards: “It is an absolute honour to see so many category wins for British representatives at the IPC Awards. David is an incredible athlete who fully deserves all the recognition he is now receiving for his years of dedication to his sport and it is fantastic that tonight he can add Best Male athlete to his many accolades.
“I am also delighted that the hard work and creativity of British media organisations that covered the fantastic performances of ParalympicsGB athletes at the London 2012 Paralympic Games has been recognised and rewarded by the IPC. From the cutting-edge efforts of Channel 4 to the long-term support of the BBC and the Telegraph, the coverage of last year’s Games clearly demonstrated that the British media were some of the first media organisations in the world to grasp the tremendous power and excitement that the Paralympics can generate. I am confident that the British media will continue to be at the forefront of Paralympic coverage as we head towards Sochi and Rio.”
Also during the evening, the fourth category winner in the media awards, Best Photo, went to Edmonton Journal photographer Larry Wong for his image of Canadian swimmer Benoit Huot.
The other Sports Awards were: Best Female, Best Female Debut, Best Male Debut, Best Team and Best Official. Best Female was won by Wheelchair Tennis player Esther Vergeer (NED), Best Female Debut by sprinter Marlou van Rhijn (NED), Best Male Debut by handcyclist Alex Zanardi (ITA) and Brazil’s 5-a-side Football team won Best Team. Best Official was awarded to Germany’s Sylvia Sekowska (GER), head table official for Wheelchair Rugby at London 2012
The awards were hosted by the IPC and were partnered by the IPC’s International Partner Allianz.
