Paralympics: Global superstars close Games

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Paralympics: Global superstars close Games

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Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z on Sunday brought the curtain down on the London Paralympics.

10 September,2012 04:37 am

Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z on Sunday brought the curtain down on the London Paralympics, in a celebratory mood amid claims that the Games had helped usher in a seismic shift in attitudes towards disability.The British band opened the planned three-hour extravaganza of song and dance, watched by 80,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium and many of the 4,200 athletes at trackside in the shadow of the burning Paralympic flame.The show, entitled Festival of the Flame, was a tribute to Britains many artistic, cultural, musical and seasonal festivals and was billed as being a journey through the seasons to music and dance, artistic director Kim Gavin said.Organisers hailed the Games as the biggest and most high-profile in its 52-year history, with more media attention and a record number of athletes from more than 160 countries, including for the first time reclusive North Korea.London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said that with 2.7 million tickets sold, packed venues and vocal crowds, the Games had created a global platform for elite disabled sport and also helped change perceptions of people with disabilities.I really genuinely do think that we have had a seismic effect on shifting public attitudes, he told a news conference.I dont think people will ever see sport in the same way again. I dont think they will ever see disability in the same way again. We have talked about what we can do rather than what we cant do.Earlier on Sunday, one of the stand-out performers of the Games, British wheelchair racer David Weir, was roared to victory and his fourth gold in the mens marathon around the landmarks of central London.Australia beat Canada for murderball -- wheelchair rugby -- gold, while Russia got revenge over neighbours Ukraine for defeat in the seven-a-side football final in Beijing four years ago.The final golds ended the action, which notably saw the Games most high-profile athlete Oscar Pistorius stripped of his 100m and 200m crowns but then conclude the track and field programme with a stunning victory in the 400m.