Chris was delighted to sit down with the makers of Japan Sports Stories, a fortnightly podcast that explores the untold stories of Japan and Japanese Sport in the run up to the Olympic Games.
Entitled ‘How to Make a Paralympic Games’, Chris’s episode looks at what made the London games so successful and what Tokyo needs to do to maintain that momentum.
Chris has enjoyed a long association with the Paralympic Games under many guises. He has been called Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer, winning a total of nine golds, five silvers and a bronze across four Games.
Following his retirement from swimming Chris’s involvement with the Games continued as part of the bid team and then as Director of Paralympic Integration at London 2012 and now as Deputy Chair of Channel 4 – as Channel 4 continue a longstanding commitment to Paralympic sport securing the broadcast rights for both Tokyo and Paris 2024.
Tokyo 2020 comes on the back of a Paralympic Games that was almost cancelled due to a lack of funding and poor management. Just years earlier, London has been hailed as a huge success with over double the crowds of the games before it and an enormous rise in public and media backing.
As a key architect of the success of the London 2012 Paralympic Games Chris talks about his role as Director of Integration, the overall approach to the games, why inclusion matters and, of course, his love of deep fried tempura!