Blog: Let the Games begin!

Boccia UK Performance Director Helen Nicholls blogs about why the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is so meaningful.

And the Games begin!

It’s finally here - the day that so many athletes from so many countries around the globe have been waiting for. The Paralympic flag will be raised and the greatest show on earth will begin.

These Games mean so much to our athletes in Boccia and never more so than in the unique circumstances of 2021. The sport of Boccia lives in the shadows of mainstream sports for most of the Games cycle. The athletes compete fiercely year in and year out on the World Open circuit and battle it out for medals at World and European Championships in deep, competitive fields.

Dressed up on Opening Ceremony day.

There are no easy medals. To even get out of the pool stages is a challenge while the knockout stages are brutal. The Paralympic Games provide the athletes a stage on which they can show the world what Boccia is all about.

It’s not just the sport that nobody knows how to pronounce - or the sport that is ‘similar to boules’. It is the ultimate test of mind over body. The ultimate test of clinical decision making and it is ultimately about elite ability.

Can you deliver the shots you need with pinpoint accuracy when the outcome of the event hangs on you pulling it off?  When the stakes are so high? That’s what we train for day after day and week after week. Who can deliver their best performance, dig deep and raise their level while the pressure builds and builds. That is a Paralympic Champion and that’s when magic happens.

The first day of training was yesterday, 23rd August. There had been no photos or indication of the venue and what it looked like and so it was very exciting to finally get in there and see it in real life. It did not disappoint. It was awesome, inspiring and fantastically laid out.  The courts are the best quality and the Organising Committee has done a great job at ensuring all of the facilities are brilliantly prepared for the Boccia athletes.  The Boccia competition is going to be brilliant. The stage is set and it is going to look magnificent on TV so make sure you tune in!

Ariake Arena

The British team is prepared. We are ready and raring to go. We’d like to say a big thank you  to Paralympics GB - we feel at home in our corner of Tokyo and you could not have done more to make us feel settled and ready to roar!

It is a huge privilege to be at a Paralympic Games and, as I struggled through my morning run today (not easy wearing a mask in 35 degrees!,) I ran past all of the Organising Committee staff walking to their offices. I felt a huge amount of gratitude and respect for their resilience and their commitment to the Paralympics and for not giving up when it could have been the obvious answer so many times over the past two years to cancel the Games. Every single Japanese volunteer has been incredibly friendly, supportive and kind. This nation has won a special place in the heart of every single one of the Boccia athletes and we will never forget, nor underestimate, what they have done for us and our sport by pulling this off.

When the Games open this evening, I may have a little tear of relief, excitement and gratitude to the Japanese people.

Arigato gozaimasu!