LONDON, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- The sky around the Olympic Stadium in
Stratford, situated in East London was once again lit with spectacular
fireworks display on the opening of the 14th Paralympic Games, on
Wednesday.
The Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II opened the well-organised opening to mark the beginning of an 11-day quest for glory by more than 4,000 disabled athletes from 166 countries competing in the biggest participation ever in the Games' history.
The official opening ceremony started at 8.30pm (3.30am Malaysian time).
The stadium was packed with 80,000 spectators who were mesmerised by the two-hour inspirational show by 3,200 performers.
Entitled "Enlightenment", the performance was co-directed by Jenny Sealey and Bradley Hemmings, who have worked together in outdoor theatre for a number of years.
Among the touching moments at the opening ceremony was when renowned British theoretical physicist and author, Professor Stephen Hawking, made a rare public appearance in the Olympic Stadium narrating the synopsis.
The 70-year-old Hawking, who has a motor neurone disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, has spent most of his life on a wheelchair and is able to speak only through a computer.
At 9pm (4am Malaysian time), the contingents from 166 participating countries started marching into the stadium in alphabetical order, starting with Afghanistan.
The Malaysian contingent, comprising 23 athletes, 12 coaches and six team officials led by chef de mission Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong and Jalur Gemilang bearer, Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli, joined the parade at 10pm (5am Malaysian time).
They wore an almost similar outfit as the Malaysian Olympic contingent did.
The men were clad in yellow and black striped baju Melayu with a red overcoat and "tanjak" (traditional headdress), while the women were in baju kebaya with similar motif and a red shawl to compliment the outfit.
Among Malaysia's dignitaries who witnessed the ceremony was Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Datuk Razali Ibrahim, Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Datuk Seri Zakaria Sulong, Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) patron Tun Jeanne Abdullah and MPC president Datuk Zainal Abu Zarin.
London Olympic and Paralympics Organising Committee (LOGOC) chairman, Sebastian Coe and the president of the International Paralympic Committe (IPC) Sir Philip Craven welcomed the participants to the Paralympics.
Beijing Paralympics women's 100m breaststroke S6 gold medallist, Liz Johnson, took the oath on behalf of the athletes.
After a 148km of overnight relay by 116 teams of five members each, starting from the Paralympic's birth place in Stoke Mendiville, the Paralympic Torch finally entered the Olympic Stadium at midnight (7am Malaysian time).
The torch was brought into the stadium by an aspiring Paralympic triathlete, Joe Townsend gliding on wire from the Arcelor Mittal Orbit into the stadium before handing it over to visually impaired footballer, David Clarke, who took the flame towards the cauldron.
Clarke then passed the torch to the final torchbearer Margaret Maughan, Britain's first gold medallist at the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, who lit up the Paralympic Games cauldron.
By Farhanah Azmi -- BERNAMA
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