that is nice. good news. a friend of the programme. i am sure they will not be on for a while now. the paralympic games will officially get under way in tokyo today with the opening ceremony taking place in just a few hours. double paralympic champion steve bate is one of the 227 competitors from great britain despite being registered blind steve s won a host of medals for cycling and climbed the legendary el capitan rock in california. let s take a look at his incredible story. if you want to be the best in the world, you ve got to work harder than everyone else. paralympic champion steve bate is chasing after one thing gold in tokyo. ten years ago, steve was diagnosed with a rare eye disorder. my eyesight is getting narrower and narrower,
and gathering in places that could cause the infection to spread more. so many people have asked me, how do the people of tokyo feel about the paralympics going ahead? is there enthusiasm or hostility? and i think the answer is, emotions here are again very mixed. there is no hostility towards the games themselves or the athletes, people here are very welcoming of those who have come to compete, and they will watch the games on television with enthusiasm as they did with the olympics. i think the hostilities mainly towards the ioc and the japanese government for the very bad management they have made of the covid pandemic, the very slow roll out of vaccines here, and the fact that this has been pushed ahead with despite the fact that the pandemic has been getting worse and worse. let s hear more about one of the athletes in tokyo. steve bate is the first person with a visual impairment to solo climb el capitan in california, one of hardest ascents in the world. but his talents don t st
my field of vision is getting , smaller and smaller. if i hold my hands there, i can t see them, you know, which is really bizarre. before his diagnosis, steve had spent his life in the mountains. at that time in my life, that was everything to me. all of a sudden, that wasjust like gone. within a few sentences of getting an eye check, like, you can t drive, i don t think you should climb any more. living the dream up here. check out that view. but instead of giving up, steve took on the climb of his life, ascending over 900 metres. this is the really scary bit. in 2013, steve became the first visually impaired person to solo climb el capitan, one of the hardest ascents in the world. i always said that was the missing
in 2013, steve became the first visually impaired person to solo climb el capitan, one of the hardest descents in the world. i always said that was the missing piece of the puzzle, for me to reach that full potential, go into overdrive and try and achieve stuff. within four years of picking up a road bike, steve and his co pilot adam had won two gold paralympic medals. riding in tandem, they are called the power and the pilot. but hang on a minute. is the person on the back doing more work? ask adam that. no, that s not really how it works. we have to pedal together at the same time. i don t just steer anywhere,
afghanistan s flag carried by a volunteer as a message of solidarity after its two competitors were unable to travel. as for britain, well, its flag bearers were two of its most experienced campaigners swimmer ellie simmonds and archerjohn stubbs. a more muted opening ceremony than normal, but for the athletes who feared to these games might never happen, their big moment is finally here. andy swiss, bbc news. so, the opening ceremony continues, but we still have a little while till the action it all starts at 1am tomorrow morning uk time, with three sports having medals up for grabs on the opening day. sarah storey is britain s most successful female paralympian and she could win paralympic gb s first medal as she goes for her fourth consecutive gold in the c5 3,000 metre individual pursuit. storey s team mate crystal lane wright took silver behind storey in rio and is looking to qualify again. the qualifying begins just after 3am, and the final is at 6:30am. tandem pair steve bat