Say hello to tomorrow's superstars

Traditionally, the Paralympics for disabled athletes have been cast in the shadow of their able-bodied counterpart. But that is now about to change, with tickets for London 2012 on track to sell out for the first time in the event's 64-year history.

Latest figures show that more than 2.1 million of the 2.5 million tickets that are available have been snapped up, with athletic, cycling and wheelchair tennis events largely sold out.

The British team has been set a target of winning at least 103 medals by funding body UK Sport – which, if achieved, would vastly surpass the haul of 65 medals picked up by the Olympic team. In Beijing in 2008, the Great Britain Paralympians were second only to the Chinese in the medals table.

Meanwhile, stay-at-home sports fans will be able to watch the most extensive coverage ever dedicated to the Paralympics, which runs from August 29 to September 9. The official broadcaster, Channel 4, is devoting nearly 500 hours – almost its entire schedule – to Paralympic sports, with coverage beginning at 7am and running late into the night.

Billed as the biggest event in the channel's history, it has run a series of slick adverts including this cheeky slogan aired straight after the Olympics: "Thanks for the warm-up".

In another bold move, half of the presenting team covering the Games will be disabled, including former carpenter Martin Dougan, from Glasgow.

The 25-year-old, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was selected for the role through a nationwide talent search.

His role will see him going behind the scenes of the Paralympics as well as interviewing athletes and their families throughout the competition.

Dougan said some of the athletes could become household names following the Games.

"We are really hoping to change people's perception of disability," he said. "When people are watching TV, of course they will notice you are in a wheelchair at first, but eventually it will just be: 'Oh there's Martin Dougan on the telly.' It's about showing that disabled people can do jobs as well."

One of the stated aims of the British Paralympic Association is to shift perceptions of disabled sport and disabled people, with London 2012 seen as an opportunity to create lasting improvement.

Disability campaigners agree having the world's spotlight on a sporting event for disabled athletes has an important part to play in changing attitudes, but also point out the Games can throw up some complex issues.

Richard Hamer, director of external affairs at charity Capability Scotland, said: "The trickiness is that there are a lot of people who can't escape their disability, so you can end up with a bit of a public perception of why aren't all disabled people jumping up out of their wheelchairs and getting on with getting a job, because this guy can do a marathon in his wheelchair.

"I wouldn't want to take anything away from the Paralympics, but it has to be noted Paralympians are a very elite group of people."

David Howe, a senior lecturer in the anthropology of sport at Loughborough University, has reservations about the rhetoric used to describe athletes with disabilities, for example descriptions such as "inspirational" and "heroic".

Howe was born with mild cerebral palsy and competed as a middle and long-distance runner at four Paralympic Games, between 1988 and 2000. He said: "I'm not saying there aren't heroic and courageous individuals involved in the Paralympic Games, but that you do not have to be heroic and courageous to get there.

"You have to be a talented athlete, and those two things are not directly tied, just as they aren't tied in the Olympic Games."

Guy Parckar, head of policy and campaigns at Leonard Cheshire Disability, cautioned against placing too much expectations on the Paralympics to change attitudes to disability.

But he added: "Hopefully there will be a knock-on effect in changing some of the negative perceptions and negative attitudes that still do surround disability."

However, like the Olympics, the Paralympic Games are not without their controversies. Some are unhappy at the classification categories for impaired athletes used to ensure a level playing field.

For example, in the archery competition, all visually impaired athletes will be required to wear blindfolds.

Those who have partial sight and usually compete without a blindfold have said it has taken away the chance of taking part for them.

SEVEN TOP SCOTS AT THE GAMES

1. ANDREW MULLEN

While most teenagers are fond of lying in their beds, swimmer Andrew Mullen gets up at 4.30 am six days a week to undertake two hours of training in the pool.

The 15-year-old, from Newton Mearns, was born with no forearms or hands and has only one fully functioning limb.

He managed to combine his gruelling preparation for the 50m butterfly and 50m back crawl at his first Paralympics while gaining six As and two Bs in his school exams at intermediate 2 level.

Mullen said: "It is quite hard to juggle swimming and studying, but I got a lot of help through my school, Mearns Castle High School.

"I am really excited, especially with it being home games. The atmosphere is going to be amazing. I was watching the Olympics and whenever a GB athlete was announced there was such a roar.

"Obviously I am excited about racing in front of a home crowd. But just being in the Olympic village I think will be exciting."

His mother Katriona Mullen added: "We probably thought it would be Rio de Janeiro when Andrew would make his debut. We thought it was a bit beyond him to make London at the age of 15, so we are very proud.

"I keep telling him that by just getting there and getting selected, you are a Paralympian now. That is a gold medal in itself. Just being there and taking part is a huge achievement."

2. KATE MURRAY

Archer Kate Murray, from the village of Bonchester Bridge in the Borders, is the oldest member of Team GB. She will celebrate her 64th birthday as she takes part in the first round of her competition on August 30.

Murray has a degenerative spine condition which means she has to rely mainly on a wheelchair and is taking part in her second Paralympics, having come seventh at the games in Beijing in 2008.

She said: "I first got archery lessons as a gift from a friend just over 10 years ago. I had become too disabled to work and was feeling sorry for myself at the time.

"I admit to thinking at the time 'she is not going to be a friend for much longer', but I decided to give it a go and got started from there.

"I used to be competitive in horse-driving trials years ago and found this was the sort of competition I could do."

Murray faced a battle back to fitness in time for the Paralympics, after undergoing a shoulder operation last year.

She added: "I'm looking towards going to Rio de Janeiro in another four years. As far as I am concerned 64 is just a number. It's nothing to do with what you can and can't do.

"I think sometimes older disabled people tend to get stuck in a rut and are not aware of what they can actually go out and do."

3. MURRAY ELLIOT

Murray Elliot, from Bo'ness, West Lothian, said he was "rubbish" when he first tried archery. But now, 20 years later, he will compete in the sport at his first Paralympic Games.

The 50-year-old trains with the Balbardie Archers five or six days a week and decided to become part-time at his job as IT manager at the Scottish Agricultural College last year to focus on getting to the Games.

Elliot, who suffers from problems with his spine, said the sport has helped keep him mobile – and also introduced him to his wife Hazel, whom he met at his archery club.

He said: "I am a standing archer, I have got problems with my spine and pelvis – skeletal problems, which affect my strength, flexibility and balance. I developed it at an early age and have suffered from it for many years.

"There are times when I am in a lot of pain – but when I actually go and shoot it helps me, which sounds contrary to what you expect.

"Shooting has kept me mobile and it has kept me flexible. Specialists are sometimes often quite surprised that am as fit and able as I am – but I am convinced archery has a lot to do with that.

"It's really special being at home games. I have been to lots of competitions but never anything on this scale so it's the whole experience.

"I can't wait to step out in that stadium and hear the roar of the crowd."

4&5. STEPHEN AND  PETER MCGUIRE

Brothers Stephen and Peter McGuire from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who have been described by Billy Connolly as “extraordinary”, both have muscular dystrophy and use wheelchairs, but are stars in the world of boccia, a sport similar to French boules.

They will compete as a pair and individually at the Paralympics, with another Scot, Scott McCowan, also making the British boccia team.

For Stephen, 28, who is ranked world number two, it will be the fulfilment of a long-held ambition. Boccia was originally designed as a sport for the disabled – and is one of just three paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the able-bodied Olympics.

He said: “When I left school in 2004, I wanted to go to the Paralympics – that This was always the dream. I have been watching the Paralympics, growing up with the Olympics, all my life and I’ve always thought how great it would be to go to these events.

“So I researched what sort of sports I could do physically to get me there, sent letters and emails to organisations for swimming, table tennis and a sport called boccia, which I had never heard of.

“It just so happened the Scottish coach for boccia was also the Team GB coach. She invited me along and I have stuck at it since then.”

Like Olympic triathlon gold medallist Alistair Brownlee and his brother Jonny, who took bronze in the event, the McGuires could be drawn against  each other in the individual event.

But Peter, 29, said: “As long as one of us brings back a medal, we’ll be happy.”

6. DAVID SMITH

When rower David Smith makes his debut at the Paralympics in the mixed-cox fours, it will be hard to believe it was just over two years ago he was temporarily paralysed from the neck down following an operation.

The 34-year-old, whose home town is Aviemore, underwent surgery to remove an aggressive tumour on his spinal cord in his neck. During his recovery, he developed a blood clot and became unable to move. He had to learn to walk again from scratch following a second operation, but within just 15 months was back in his boat and winning World Championship gold.

Smith, who was born with a club foot, has always been a keen athlete and previously represented Britain in bobsleigh competitions at Olympic level between 2002 and 2008. He was forced to give that up after being plagued by injuries – which he later realised were linked to the tumour.

But, determined to stay in sport, he took up rowing after finding out he qualified as a Paralympian due to his club foot.

He said: “To row in front of a home crowd will be amazing. It is an amazingly proud moment to represent your country at a home games. It certainly makes all the hard work and long winters pay off. I love sport and enjoy pushing myself physically and mentally and the challenge of reaching these Games has got me there.”

7. JIM ANDERSON

Move over, Chris Hoy. The cycling star might be Scotland’s most successful Olympian, but swimmer Jim Anderson OBE has competed at every Paralympic Games since Barcelona 1992, making London his sixth Games and he’s hoping to add to the six gold, nine silver and two bronze medals he already has to his name.

And it’s not the only talent the 49-year-old, from Broxburn, West Lothian, boasts: he is also a former wheelchair disco champion.

Anderson, who has cerebral palsy, was inspired to start swimming as a teenager after watching Scottish swimmer David Wilkie win gold at the Montreal Olympics, and started entering competitions at the age of 18.

He said: “I am a wheelchair-user so getting in the pool gives me a freedom that I don’t have out of the water. I also have arthritis which swimming helps to keep under control.

“This will be my sixth Paralympic Games and I think the biggest difference will definitely be the atmosphere in the pool. Swimming in front of 17,500 fans will be really exciting.

“It’s also easier as I don’t need to worry about long-haul flights, acclimatising or what to eat, like we have had to do when we’ve travelled to other Paralympics.

“I hope attitudes towards Paralympics will change as a result of the TV coverage. Paralympians are elite athletes and this is a great chance to showcase our ability as athletes  not our disabilities.”