体坛英语新闻：Sebastian Coe hails London 2012 Paralympics

LONDON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Following is the full text of the speech delivered by Sebastian Coe, the chair of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics here on Wednesday night:

Today, on behalf of every Briton and every lover of sport, it is my great honor to say Welcome home to the Paralympic Games.

The movement that has led us here, to this exhilarating moment, to these incredible games, began here in Britain on the day London opened the 1948 Olympic Games.

For that day saw not only the Olympic opening ceremony at Wembley but also, 35 miles away, an archery demonstration for paraplegics. And it was this vision that launched Ludwig Guttman's great venture, it was this that launched the Paralympic Games.

So we say welcome home to this great sporting competition.

Welcome home to a movement that shows what sport is all about.

Sport is about what you can do, what you can achieve, the limits you can reach, the barriers you can break. Sport shows what is possible. Sport refuses to take no for an answer.

And everything sport stands for we are going to see right here, right now. Everything sports stands for we are going to experience with these Paralympic Games.

From the moment London began its bid to host the Games in 2012 we determined that we would raise the bar. Not just for the Olympic Games but for the Paralympic Games too.

That London 2012 would be the next great advance for the movement.

That London 2012 would be a landmark for people with a disability everywhere, a landmark in the progress of mankind towards the light, towards seeing immense capability and possibility.

And now we are ready. Now the stadiums are ready. Now the people of Britain are ready. Now the athletes are ready.

To the athletes I say, you will hear us. The enthusiasm for these Paralympics is extraordinary. The crowds will be uNPRecedented. These will be games to remember.

And to my fellow countrymen and the millions watching around the world add these final words:

Prepare to be inspired.

Prepare to be dazzled.

Prepare to be moved by the Paralympic Games of London 2012.