Last full day of Paralypmic competition

LONDON (AFP) –

South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius competes in the men’s 400m – T44 heat 2 during the athletics competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in east London on September 7.

The last full day of competition at the London Paralympics draws to a close on Saturday, with Oscar Pistorius determined to go out with gold after five-a-side masters Brazil maintained their unbeaten run.

Pistorius, 25, is favourite to retain his T44 400m title for single and double below-the-knee amputee sprinters, being the only man to run under 50sec in the final, which ends the athletics action at the Olympic Stadium.

The South African “Blade Runner”, who became the first double-amputee to run at the Olympics last month, said on Twitter that he was looking forward to his “last and favourite event”.

Pistorius on Friday qualified in 48.31sec, easing up in the final straight but still a full two seconds ahead of his nearest rivals in both heats.

Brazil meanwhile defended their unbeaten record in five-a-side football, beating France 2-0 to clinch their third gold in the three Games since the sport was introduced.

There was disappointment for double gold medallist swimmer Ellie Simmonds, who had been looking to cement Britain’s second spot in the medals table, as she took silver in the S6 100m freestyle behind rival Victoria Arlen of the United States.

The world record-breaking win was Arlen’s first of the Games after three silvers and came after a row about her classification on the eve of the competition.

Among the final gold matches, in wheelchair tennis, former military helicopter pilot Noam Gershon, who was injured during Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon, took the men’s quad singles titles for the Jewish nation’s first gold of the Games.

The 29-year-old, who received congratulations at courtside from Israel’s president and sports minister, said he planned to mark the win by getting “really drunk”.

But he also dedicated his medal to his grandmother, who celebrates her 88th birthday on Sunday.

“I’ll make sure I celebrate with her,” he added.

Sunday sees the quadrennial festival of disabled sport spill out onto the streets of the British capital, with four marathon races starting and finishing on the Mall outside Queen Elizabeth II’s London residence, Buckingham Palace.

Large crowds are expected as the best wheelchair, amputee, blind and visually-impaired 26.2-mile (42-kilometre) racers go past key landmarks in the city, including the Tower of London and the British parliament.

Sunday’s programme also sees the finals of the seven-a-side football and “murderball” — wheelchair rugby — which has proved one of the most popular spectator sports at the Games.

From 1930 GMT, London will bid an emotional farewell to the Olympics and Paralympics, organisers said, with Coldplay headlining a closing ceremony entitled “Festival of the Flame”.

Artistic director Kim Gavin told reporters that it will draw heavily on Britain’s rich history of cultural, musical and seasonal festivals, taking spectators on a journey through the seasons to music and dance.

“We have taken the flame, being part of and representing the human spirit that brings so much power to these Games, and really focused towards the flame going out. That’s our emotion.”

The hosts of the next Olympic and Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, will have an eight-minute slot in the show, to give spectators — and athletes — an idea of what awaits them in Brazil.

“In eight minutes, we are going to try to be contagiously joyful. It is just a taster of what you will get in four years’ time,” said co-artistic director Daniela Thomas.

The segment will involve both non-disabled artists and those with a disability, including a routine involving blind ballet dancers and the Brazilian principals at the Royal Ballet in London, Thiago Soares and Roberta Marquez.