Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Queen of England hosts British Paralympians

From the BBC:

Britain's Paralympians have met the Queen on Feb. 25 at a reception in their honour at Buckingham Palace.

The team, who won 42 gold medals in Beijing last year, paraded in London with the Olympic team in October but were assigned their own royal meeting.

Britain's 213-strong squad finished second in the medal table, with 102 medals in all, behind hosts China.

Swimmer Ellie Simmonds (far left in picture) made her second trip to the palace in a week after receiving an MBE on 18 February.

Eighty athletes returned home as Paralympic medallists, 30 with at least one gold to their name, 26 with silver and 39 bronze.

Among the party on Wednesday was swimmer David Roberts, now an 11-time Paralympic champion after his successes in Beijing.

Dressage competitor Lee Pearson, 35, (center in picture) boasts an unbeaten record across three Games, with his three gold medals in Beijing taking the total to nine.