Fitness health centre

One of the guiding principles of the Olympics emphasises the importance of participation as opposed to winning.

"The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well," said the father of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Paralympians are living examples of people who have triumphed over adversity and "fought well".

Every Paralympian has an inspirational story to tell. Most people would be impressed and inspired by the sight of an athlete with missing limbs sprinting faster than most able-bodied people.

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) hopes the London 2012 Games will inspire disabled people of all ages to take up sport, either competitively or for its health benefits.

The BPA has launched a website called Parasport to help increase participation in disability sport by directing people to suitable sports, opportunities, clubs and facilities in their area.

BPA chief executive Phil Lane says the Parasport website is designed to improve access to regional sports facilities for disabled people.

"Many young people do not know how to access sport for the disabled in their local area," he says.

"Equally, we needed to find new athletes for the GB team in time for 2012 and beyond. We hope this scheme helps to extend the talent pool." 

Britain's got talent

Britain has one of the best records at the Paralympic Games, which were first held in 1960 in Rome. The BPA wants Britain to continue to set the standards in disability sport at international level and to nurture new talent.

The Parasport website is the first of its kind in the UK. Its goal is to inspire anyone with a disability to lead an active lifestyle and enjoy the benefits associated with participating in sport, such as health, inclusion and social development.

The website has a number of features including a self-assessment wizard, which allows the user to enter their disability and find suitable sports to participate in. There is information on all the different parasports, videos, photographs and regular news updates. 

While the 23 Paralympic sports are at the forefront of disability sporting opportunities, there are plenty of non-paralympic sports available too. The disability world has a wide variety of sports including zone hockey, transplant sports, waterskiing, angling, wheelchair dance, hand cycling, motor sports, inclusive gyms and much more.

With its ever-growing clubs and events database, the Parasport website will support and develop as many of these sporting opportunities as possible.

Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain's most successful wheelchair athlete, believes the Parasport website will increase the opportunities available to disabled people throughout the UK.

"We want to encourage more youngsters, as well as the disabled community as a whole, to take up sport either competitively or for health reasons," she says.