Paralympic Games Quotes

In para-cycling I am a veteran with Olympic medals now.

Rio in four years; I've got more inspiration in the last two, three weeks. I'm sure I'm going to get more in the Paralympics in the next coming weeks, so by the end of this season, I'm going to take a month off, and then the next four years is going to be good.

It's kind of mind-blowing what some of us adaptive athletes can accomplish as far as physical sports.

I'm pretty proud of having completed a marathon myself, so I can only imagine the pride that real athletes feel when they are picked for the Olympic or the Paralympic Games.

I have always had a dream to take part in an Olympic Games, and losing my leg didn't change anything.

I never in a million years thought I would be able to be a Paralympic athlete.

Having loved sport my whole life, competing in a Paralympics would be a dream come true.

I played college soccer before I was hurt, and just to be able to jump back into something that you could be so competitive at or you can achieve, to get to the Paralympics, that's the first really big achievement that you can have. It's the second biggest sporting event in the world. To be a part of it and to get a medal for that, it's unreal.

I am also hugely excited to then be competing to defend my three Paralympic titles at the Paralympic Games. I believe we will see some amazing times posted and I am very much looking forward to what will be an incredible Olympics and Paralympics in London.

In February 1991, I was rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles to have my feet amputated. Three years earlier, I had broken the national 100 meters hurdles record while a student at UCLA and was a favourite for the event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

People aren't familiar with wheelchair sports. The only film crew in Athens for the Paralympics was the documentary crew.

Before taking up dressage, I'd distanced myself from the Paralympics because I hadn't wanted to be defined by my disability. Then when I grew up and got an office job, things started to change. I'm actually allergic to horses, but I'm even more allergic to paperwork!

I didn't find out about the Paralympics until I was 18 years old. Once I found out what the Paralympics were, I was so excited to know I had a chance to represent my country and wear Team U.S.A. on my back.

A lot of times, people think 'para' as far as 'paralyzed.' 'Para' means 'alongside,' so the Paralympics are alongside the Olympics on the same courses, the same hills.

I joke that the Olympics is the warm-up to the Paralympics.

I loved the adrenalin rush of the skeleton, and would love to do it as a Paralympic sport if they ever bring it into the Games.

I was a torch carrier in the 2012 Paralympics and every time I thought 'I can't do this' I would look at the blade runners and the athletes and wheelchairs think, okay, I can run.

The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world.

The situation in disability sport is growing, and girls like Ellie Cole are doing wonders.

Let's not forget that the Paralympics, just like the Olympics, are built on a rich history.

2012 has been an extraordinary year for our country. We cheered our Queen to the rafters with the Jubilee, showed the world what we're made of by staging the most spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games ever and - let's not forget - punched way above our weight in the medals table.

It was a true honor to have represented my country at my first Paralympic Winter Games and proud to bring home gold and silver medals for the U.S.

The biggest challenge during competition is keeping my real legs warm with clothing, because I have poor circulation in the tissue around the amputated areas.