Paris Paralympics - A reflection of performance on and off the field, by Ben Hardman GDI Hub Head of Innovation

Image with Ben and 10 colleagues at London 2012 under Olympic rings

In 2012 I was fortunate to experience the London games up close, as part of a team creating the performance clothing and equipment used by Olympians and Paralympians.  We worked one-to-one with the swimmers to make sure that they were fully equipped with the best gear - designed to squeeze out every possible drop of performance in the blink-and-you-miss-it race. 

The London Games felt very special, I could sense a pivot in the way that Paralympic sport and disability more generally, was being presented to me.  The London Paralympics had attitude, it was edgy, humorous, honest, ballsey, super-human - this drew me in to a culture that I hadn’t really engaged with before, and I loved it.   As a designer and engineer I was blow away by the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which oozes human-centred design, and made the experience for everyone at the games equally brilliant.  Looking back, I can now appreciate that what I’d experienced was an event and a place where inclusion had been baked-in from the very beginning and not as an after-thought or tick box. 

Ben Hardman during the #BeyondSportParis reception

Fast forward 12 years and I find myself at the Paris Paralympics, experiencing more jaw dropping performances at the vibrant Stade De France - this time as a part of the GDI Hub team.  On the day I was at the stadium we witnessed an incredible T11 long jump world record by Di Dongdong, and David ‘WierWolf’ Wier win the T54 5000m heat 28 years after his first Paralympic appearance in 1996 in Atlanta.  I was also privileged to hear the brilliant April Holmes talk about her life and career as a Paralympian, her experiences of being an entrepreneur, and leading a foundation assisting people with disabilities to find scholarships.