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2012 Paralympic Games begin in London The Games open at Olympic Park and run through Sept 9.
Aug. 29, 2012
Performers dance with umbrellas during the opening ceremony for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. In a nod to the famously erratic British weather, umbrellas were a central theme.
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AP
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Aug. 29, 2012
The theme of the ceremony was “Enlightenment.” The extravaganza, directed by Bradley Hemmings and Jenny Sealey, was billed as a voyage across “a sea of ideas.”
Kirsty Wigglesworth
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
An artist rides a giant apple during the ceremony, representing Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity, the force that all Earth-bound athletes strive against. The legend is that Newton created his hypothesis after watching an apple fall from a tree.
Dan Kitwood
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Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
Fireworks light up the stadium as the Paralympic Games flame burns in the cauldron during the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in London.
Mike Ehrmann
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Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
View of performers during the opening ceremony for the 2012 Paralympics in London.
Lefteris Pitarakis
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
French athletes arrive during the opening ceremony.
Dan Kitwood
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Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
Performers take part at the opening ceremony. The show included 73 deaf and disabled professional performers and 68 disabled people among its 3,250 volunteers.
Stefan Wermuth
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Reuters
Aug. 29, 2012
British team members show their national pride during the opening ceremony.
Ian Kington
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AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
Professor Stephen Hawking addresses the crowd during the opening ceremony. “The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world. We are all different, there is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit,” Hawking said. “What is important is that we have the ability to create . . . however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.”
Dan Kitwood
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Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
Actress Nicola Miles Wildin, playing Miranda of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” flies into the stadium during the opening ceremony. Wildin joined British actor Ian McKellen in announcing that “the greatest adventure is what lies ahead.”
Clive Rose
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Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
Queen Elizabeth II declares the London 2012 Paralympic Games open.
Jan Kruger
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Getty Images for IPC
Aug. 29, 2012
Fireworks explode over the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony.
Alastair Grant
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
Torchbearers carry the Paralympic Games flame across London's Abbey Road, made famous by the Beatles. The Paralympic torch arrived in London after an overnight relay through the countryside of southern England.
Ben Birchall
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AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
The Paralympic flame is carried by torchbearers in front of Parliament in London. The torch relay was running two hours behind schedule as thousands of people watched the flame pass by some of the city’s famous landmarks ahead of the opening ceremony that would mark the start of the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Gareth Fuller
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AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 29, 2012
Activist Patrick Lynch sobs during a protest next to Atos’s London headquarters. About a dozen disability activists were demonstrating, unhappy with Atos, a main sponsor of the Paralympics. The French company has a government contract and carries out controversial "fit to work" tests that the protesters say can have a negative effect on disabled people’s lives.
Emilio Morenatti
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
Chinese swimmers warm up in the Aquatic Center during a training session for the London Paralympic Games.
Lefteris Pitarakis
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
Paralympic swimmers are visible through a porthole at the Aquatic Center during a training session in London.
Lefteris Pitarakis
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
A swimmer adjusts his goggles in the Aquatic Center as he trains ahead of Paralympic competition in London.
Lefteris Pitarakis
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
A swimmer warms up in London’s Aquatic Center during a Paralympic training session.
Lefteris Pitarakis
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
Oksana Masters of the United States and her rowing partner, Rob Jones, carry their oars after a Paralympic training session in Eton Dorney, near Windsor, England.
Emilio Morenatti
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
U.S. Paralympic track cyclist Joe Berenyi rides during a training session at the Velodrome in London.
Andrew Winning
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Reuters
Aug. 27, 2012
North Korea's only Paralympic competitor, Rim Ju Song, sits in his wheelchair during a welcoming ceremony at the London Games. Rim, who lives in Beijing and lost an arm and leg in a construction accident, is North Korea’s only hope for a swimming medal. However, until recently, he could not swim. At his first training session, he sank "like a rock," recalled Kim Sung Chol of the North Korean Paralympic Committee. Nevertheless, Rim learned the crawl stroke, and in May he and his coaches boarded a plane for Berlin and his first international competition.
Alastair Grant
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
U.S. rower Oksana Masters, center, arrives at Eton Dorney to take part in a training session for the London Paralympics.
Emilio Morenatti
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AP
Aug. 29, 2012
Flames leap from the cauldron in the Olympic Stadium in London, marking the start of the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Toby Melville
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Reuters
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