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Julian Finney / Getty Images
Fireworks light up the stadium during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on September 9, 2012.
Stefan Wermuth / Reuters
Performers with flame throwers burn the grass in the Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremony.
Hannah Johnston / Getty Images
Singer Rihanna performs during the closing ceremony.
Peter MacDiarmid / Getty Images
Swimmer Ellie Simmonds of Great Britain, right, who won four medals during the Games, enjoys the atmosphere with fellow Team GB Paralympians during the closing ceremony.
Peter MacDiarmid / Getty Images
Jay-Z performs with Coldplay during the closing ceremony. The stars were paid a nominal one pound ($1.60) to play.
Hannah Johnston / Getty Images
Circus artists enter the stadium from the air.
The Associated Press reports — Farewell, London. Good luck matching that, Rio.
Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z rocked the Olympic Stadium on Sunday night to give the biggest-ever Paralympic Games a rousing send-off, wrapping up an unforgettable summer of sports in Britain.
The three-hour party at the packed 80,000-seat arena in east London gave the world a chance to celebrate 11 days of Paralympic competition that have shifted perceptions and shattered stereotypes about the disabled.
"In this country, we will never think of sport the same way and we will never think of disability the same way," said Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organizing committee. "The Paralympians have lifted the cloud of limitation." Read the full story.
Related content:
- 'Meet the Superhumans': Paralympians burst onto world stage
- Look back at the best images from the opening ceremony
- London 2012's legacy under the spotlight
- Race car driver who cheated death wins 3 medals
- More images from the Paralympic Games on PhotoBlog
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Great Britain did a fantastic job hosting the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. Congratulations to participants, volunteers, residents and supporters of all types. Thank you for a job well done!
And yet so little respect and attention was shown and given by local tv networks that the majority of the events went unnoticed by America. And yet you pat yourselves on the back for your 'efforts'.
I can't believe how little coverage there was here. Terrible! NBC should be ashamed of themselves!
The amount of medals was proportionate to the love/care shown to the Paralympic athletes.
Amazing games, Amazing times.
Too bad that nothing was shown here in the US.
So nice that people with disabilities could be recognized, even if not be our media.
Why burn the grass? What is symbolic of this action. Why is it that all the performers are known to be God haters. Jayz and Riahna both are anti God. I do not wish to trod down the paralympians and their success but this display seems to be more of a ritualistic ceremony than anything. The Olympics were and are still to this day a pagan ritual that glorifies man and his accomplishments.
Yes, and apparently "man" is the only one able to write about it, so far----But the "man" in charge of religious women (most of the religions) also seemed to have many rituals on the real Olympics, like they have had since ancient times!--The reason Olympics are held to begin with! Brag, Brag, brag-- thus the reason US spends so much time on it, and its athletes; and in the disabled Olympics USA just can not be in as much, since many disabled here are not doing very well without a specialized and regular medical system for all!
Where do you get the idea that all the performers are known to be God haters? Of the HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of performers at the Paralympics, none were God lovers? (by your private standards?) These performers were paid ONE Pound. There had to be a lot of love for them to do it. Maybe the performers you would have liked to see wouldn't do it for that price.
the Greeks weren't pagan - they had loads of Gods!
Ok, so now that the religious nutcase has posted, how about the fool that trys to make it political.
I really wish there had been more coverage of this in the US. I had to search to find any information and photos. I truely think that the Paralympians are heroic. They overcome so much more to acheive this.
NBC - You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You have the rights to the Olympics including the Paralympics. The US coverage has been almost non-existent . That is simply a disgrace and constitutes an insult to American and all other Paralympians and to all disabled people. The TV coverage on Channel 4 in the UK has been wall to wall and I have had to resort to buying a UK proxy service to watch the coverage streaming over the internet.
Shame on you and all of your advertisers who also clearly could not see their way to support the airing of this amazing event with their ad revenue.
Almost Zero broadcast coverage by NBC - shame on you. an insult to paralympians.
Hardly any reporting during the course of the paralympic game by US media. Perhaps because US did not do well and China out-performed all other nations. US media did not want the world to know they are overwhelming beaten by the Chinese.
China won a total of 271 medals (95 gold, 71 silver and 65 bronze). Russia came second with 36 gold.