A week or so back, I was at one of the ceremonies where the handover of the Paralympics from Beijing to London was being celebrated.
(Incidentally...wow, didn't we do well in Beijing? Second in the medal table, with an amazing 42 golds among our total 102 medals!)
Anyway, back to this ceremony. After all the ceremonial was over, the day consisted of schoolkids - some disabled, some able-bodied - trying out different events. The events on offer included shot, javelin, rowing, and boccia. Bo-what? I hear you ask...I'll come to that.
Before I took poorly, I used to throw the hammer. Not that I was ever that good, but I've always had a hankering to get back to it - or some sort of throw anyway. So in the Paralympics I was watching the discus, the javelin, and thinking hmmmmm 
But realistically...it ain't gonna happen. Throws need strength and stamina, two qualities I just don't have any more (thanks MS!).
But I still wanted some sort of sporting outlet. So at lunchtime at this event, I managed to have a go at boccia.
Boccia is a sport with similarities to boules or pétanque. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy, but is now played by anyone. The classification system means that people with very severe disabilities are able to compete, as well as less severely disabled people. Most importantly from my point of view, one of the classifications specifically mentions MS!
The game involves throwing coloured balls to get as near as possible to a jack. Not as much emphasis on strength and stamina, but lots of skill and strategy. Obviously at first my balls were going all over the place, but soon I was getting pretty close into the jack...
I enjoyed myself! So tomorrow I'm heading off to a boccia club to see if I want to take it further.
Four years till London 2012...who knows what could happen by then 
