London 2012 will see the Paralympic Games return to their spiritual home and will be the biggest ever featuring 20 sports and over 4,200 athletes. The Paralympic mascot is named Mandeville in honour of Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the site at which disability sport in its current form was conceived.
The wheelchair tennis event will take place at Eton Manor, on the Olympic Park site, from 1-8 September. This will be the sixth time that wheelchair tennis has appeared at the Games as a full competitive sport having previously been a demonstration event at Seoul 1988.
There will be six gold medals on offer in London in the following divisions:
- Men’s Singles
- Men’s Doubles
- Women’s Singles
- Women’s Doubles
- Quad Singles
- Quad Doubles
At London 2012, the competition will be held for the first time in a purpose built stadium created just for wheelchair tennis. Eton Manor will have a capacity for 10,500 spectators to view the very best that the sport has to offer with a total of 112 athletes across all divisions.
A test event is scheduled to take place at the venue in the form of the ITF 3 Series Eton Manor Wheelchair Tennis International from 3-6 May 2012. This will give the organisation of the Games as well as athletes and spectators a chance to gain a feel for the new venue.
Wheelchair tennis first made its debut at the Paralympic Games at Seoul 1988 where it was admitted as a demonstration sport which paved the way for the sport to be fully accepted into the Games four years later in Barcelona. Initially only men’s and women’s singles and doubles were contested, but from Athens 2004 the quad class was also recognised.
For more information about the Paralympic Games please see the links below:
- International Paralympic Committee
- London 2012