The team, who will provide English and Spanish commentary for the IPC, has more than 100 years of sports commentary experience between them and will provide voiceovers for over 1,000 hours of video on-demand that will also be uploaded to the IPC's website.

During the Games, which starts on August 29, the IPC's website (pictured top) will have five channels broadcasting live sport each day; four will have English commentary with a fifth available in Spanish.

The commentary line-up includes Nick Gillingham (pictured below), the nine-times decorated British Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist swimmer, and leading BBC Radio Five Live sports reporters David Oates and Nigel Adderley.

Others on the commentary roster are the BBC's Francis Collings and Amy Bainbridge of Australia's ABC News together with well-known international voices including those of Luis Fernando Restrepo, Alvaro Romeo, Héctor Riazuelo and Hernando Ayala.

In addition to these nine, the IPC is recruiting a number of "colour" commentators, including former Paralympic sports stars, to give viewers an in-depth and intimate knowledge of each sport.


The website will also feature a revolutionary new SMART player which has been developed by the IPC's Worldwide IT Partner, Atos.

The player uses innovative technology that will enable those watching live swimming and wheelchair basketball to view real-time results tickers, statistics, biographies, news and social media – all in one integrated and synchronized window.

Viewers will also be able to enjoy a significantly improved user experience, without buffering, for high-quality video and advanced features such as Digital Video Recording (DVR), which allows viewers to pause and rewind live sporting action.

Craig Spence, the IPC's director of media and communications, said: "Our online streaming plans for London 2012 are our most ambitious yet and we are delighted to have recruited such an experienced commentary team.

"With over 780 hours of live sporting action we felt it was important to bring together an extremely knowledgeable team who will appeal to all viewers, including those new to Paralympic sport."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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