BBC at the Paralympics

Clare Balding presents daily TV coverage of the Games

Just when Sydney thought it had finished with athletes descending on their city, 4,000 Paralympians will arrive for the start of 11 days of fierce competition from 18-29 October.

The Paralympic cauldron will blaze brightly over Sydney's Olympic stadium as the city plays host to the XI Paralympiad.

The event, larger than the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1998 Commonwealth Games, from the opening ceremony with Kylie Minogue through all the achievements, efforts and action will be extensively covered by the BBC.

The BBC's comprehensive tri-media coverage will cross television, radio and online.

Kylie Minogue sings at the opening ceremony

Daily programmes, Today at the Paralympics, presented by Clare Balding on BBC Two, will capture the drama throughout the Games with a complete mix of sports, features and interviews.

It is Balding's first Paralympics and she is looking forward to the event: "I will go and see as many different sports as I can.

"This is my first Paralympic Games and I want to be doing things that I've never seen before and react in the way that you hope people at home are reacting.

"It's my job to convey the atmosphere and the excitement and you can't do that unless you are out there tasting it yourself."

World class

Joining Clare will be BBC commentators and reporters including Stuart Storey, Paul Dickenson, James Pearce and Jon Ridgeon.

Ridgeon said: "Having just returned from the Olympics it is wonderful to have another reason to head out to Sydney to cover world class sport.

Return trip to Sydney for Jon Ridgeon

"Australia did a fantastic job in staging the recent Games and expectations are high for the Paralympics.

"The British team rose magnificently to the occasion and inspired the nation with eleven Gold medals, but get ready for as many as four times that number from our athletes at the Paralympics.

"There is nothing better than reporting on success and with the likes of Tanni Grey-Thompson, Simon Jackson and Sarah Bailey at the 2000 Paralympics, I am confident that once again Britain will be experiencing the 'feel good' factor that success in the international sporting arena delivers."

Five Live

Since Atlanta '96, BBC Radio Five Live has followed the lives and training of a 'Paralympic Panel', comprising some of the nation's leading paralympic athletes including judo champion Simon Jackson, sprinter Caroline Innes, swimmer Emily Jennings and wheelchair tennis player Jayant Mistry.

BBC Radio will send an eight-strong team to cover all aspects of the Games for BBC Radio - both national and regional.

In particular, on Five Live the Nicky Campbell Show will follow the progress of the Panel and other athletes with live interviews, behind-the-scenes packages and 'oral postcards' from Down Under while Peter White, Radio 4's Disability Affairs Correspondent, will report for Today, PM and Late Tackle.

BBC Sport Online site already has its Paralympic pages up and running on www.bbc.co.uk/sport.

Following the success of its Olympic bulletins, BBC Sport Online will also be producing a daily 15-minute programme, SOL@The Paralympics 2000, from 19 October, with all the latest news and views from Sydney.

Sydney's organisers have pledged to keep the Olympic party atmosphere alive for Paralympics and initial figures show that they are as good as their promise as Australian's have already snapped up 80 per cent of tickets sold in Sydney.

---

Day by Day Highlights

Wednesday 18 October
The Opening Ceremony gets the Games off to a spectacular start with performances from Australia's top stars including Kylie Minogue and the parade of athletes.

Thursday 19 October
The first day of action sees Deanna Coates shooting for her fourth gold with an air rifle and Ian Dawson making his Paralympic debut cycling with his pilot Ray Hughes. While Britain's much fancied wheelchair basketball team start their campaign against Germany.

Friday 20 October
Three multi gold medallists get into action today - Tanni Grey-Thompson races in the 800m wheelchair, Simon Jackson competes in the judo and Sarah Bailey swims in the 200m individual medley. Also in the pool James Crisp and Emma Mounkley make their Paralympic debuts in the 200m individual medley and 50m breaststroke respectively while other action comes from shooting and athletics.

Medal hope: Noel Thatcher

Saturday 21 October
In track and field, Noel Thatcher starts his campaign for a hat-trick of 5000m/10,000m golds in the 10,000m final while long jumper Nigel Bourne is also heading for the golden treble. More swimming medals are up for grabs with Chris Holmes, Tim Reddish, James Crisp, Emily Jennings, Jody Cundy and Melanie Easter all aiming to be on the rostrum.

Sunday 22 October
Tanni Grey-Thompson competes in the 100m wheelchair final while Lloyd Upsdell and Stephen Payton fight it out in the 200m and Danny Crates in the 400m. There's more action in the pool and women's powerlifting makes its Paralympic debut when world champion Emma Brown will compete in the 82.5kg final.

Monday 23 October
100m Barcelona and Atlanta gold medallist Caroline Innes kick starts her Paralympics with the 400m final while Melanie Easter goes in the 400m freestyle. There are also goalball group matches and preliminary sailing races today.

Tuesday 24 October
Top medal hopes in the pool lie with Chris Holmes, Tim Reddish and Melanie Easter in the 100m freestyle, Tracey Wiscombe and Emma Mounkley in the 50m Butterfly and Emily Jennings and Jody Cundy in the 100m breaststroke. There are also medals in archery, boccia and powerlifting finals plus competition in fencing, sailing, goalball and equestrian.

Caroline Innes: Competes in the 200m

Wednesday 25 October
Back on the track Caroline Innes goes for 200m gold, with Bob Mathews in the 5000m. The basketball competition reaches the quarter final stage and the wheelchair rugby gets underway with Britain facing the New Zealand All Blacks.

Thursday 26 October
Britain has more strong hopes in the pool while David Holding, Nigel Bourne and Andrew Curtis compete on the track. The men's tennis doubles competition reaches the medal stages and Thomas Evans competes in the cycling.

Friday 27 October
Another big day in the pool sees the team in action, while in the equestrian arena Diane Tubbs and Lee Pearson undertake the individual freestyle test and Thomas Evans does the 20km road race.

Saturday 28 October
In the final full day of competition there are still more than 20 medals to be won in the pool and there are finals in the table tennis and men's singles competition.

Sunday 29 October
A fireworks extravaganza ends the greatest celebration of disability sport in the world, drawing the XI Paralympiad to a close.

Today At The Paralympics, BBC TWO

Wednesday 18 October 1755-1845
Thursday 19 October 1715-1800
Friday 20 October 1715-1800
Saturday 21 October 1805-1850
Sunday 22 October 1855-1955
Monday 23 October 1845-1930
Tuesday 24 October 1850-1935
Wednesday 25 October 1845-1930
Thursday 26 October 1800-1845
Friday 27 October 1715-1800
Saturday 28 October 1600-1650
Sunday 29 October 1840-1930

Subject to change: please check listings