Jalisco proudly provided 16 of the Mexican delegation’s 81 athletes who took part in the Paralympic Games opening ceremony in London on Wednesday.
Among them was 34-year-old swimmer Arnulfo Castorena, a local hero who is taking part in his fourth Paralympics, having won gold medals in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.
The next day, Castorena became Mexico’s first medal winner of the games, taking the silver in the 50 meters breast stroke for his category.
But even Castorena’s heroics pale beside those of fellow swimmer Doramitzi Gonzalez from Michoacan, who is also participating in her fourth Paralympics. She’s won 11 medals, including five golds, in her previous three games, and is Mexico’s most successful Paralympian ever.
Surprisingly, given the difficulty that athletes with disabilities encounter with facilities and funding in Mexico, this nation has an enviable record in Paralympics competition.
Placed 43rd in the all-time Summer Olympics table, Mexico is 24th in the Paralympic equivalent (with 77 golds, 81 silvers and 88 bronzes). This nation won 20 medals in Beijing 2008, ten of them golds, and finished in 14th place in the final medal table.
London 2012 is the 14th Paralympics and the biggest yet, with 4,200 athletes representing 165 countries, 19 more than in Beijing.
The games are being heralded as a return to their spiritual home. In 1948, the British village of Stoke Mandeville hosted a competitive games designed as an activity for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries. This was the first ever organized athletics event for persons with disabilities, and by 1960 had evolved into the modern Paralympics.
In keeping with the goals of the Pan American Games held in Guadalajara last year, the 2012 Paralympics has the lofty aim of attempting to bring about lasting change in Great Britain’s attitude toward disabled people and achieve greater social justice.
First indications are that the event will be a huge success, at least in sporting terms. A record two million tickets have been sold for the 20 Paralympic sports, which include 471 separate events.
Wednesday’s three-hour (rain-free) opening ceremony was taken up by broadcasters in more than 100 countries, although NBC relegated it to its online stream, while a few specialty sports networks carried the ceremony in Canada. Major free-to-air network Channel Four broadcast the ceremony in the United Kingdom and will provide 150 hours of live Paralympic sport.
To the disappointment of many who were hoping for wider coverage of the Paralympics in the United States, NBC Sports Network will air one-hour highlight shows on September 4, 5, 6 and 11 while NBC will air a 90-minute special on September 16, one week after the games have ended.
Mexican broadcasters have opted not to show any of the Paralympics, but ESPN Deportes is showing nightly highlights, each segment lasting abut an hour.
The United States has 216 athletes competing in the Paralympics, Canada 149 and Great Britain 274.
The United States heads the all-time medal table for the Paralympic Games with 2,101 medals, ahead of Germany with 1,587 medals.