With today marking exactly 500 days to go the London 2012 Paralympic Games Sir Philip, in his numerous high ranking positions, is better qualified than most to assess exactly how the competition is shaping up and he claims that all the signs are looking very good for the English capital.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the Beijing 2008 Paralympics are the greatest Paralympics of all time to date," Sir Philip told me in his usual enthusiastic tone.

"But one of my best memories of the Games actually took place four days before the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic in Beijing.

"I was at a dinner with my good friend Professor Hans Georg Näder - the chairman and chief executive of the Otto Bock Group who are one the IPC's key partners.

"We were celebrating Hans' 47th birthday and suddenly he stood up and declared: 'These are going to be the greatest Paralympic Games of all time.'

"I responded: 'Hans, the Paralympics haven't even started yet, how do you know that these will be the best ever?'

"Hans replied: 'I can just feel it in the air; trust me, this will be the best Paralympic Games ever.'

"Now Hans is a visionary, which I love, and of course when it came to the end of Beijing, he was right and it proved to be the best Paralympics ever as I declared at the end of the Games.

"It was also a fantastic Games for the IPC has we were heavily involved in the organisation of the Paralympics so our stature grew dramatically.


"Beijing set quite a standard for London to try and surpass 500 days from now.

"But as someone working on the Board of London 2012 and as someone who obviously takes a professional interest in the Games as an IOC member and as IPC member, I am already starting to get that feeling that Hans got ahead of Beijing.

"I honestly can't tell you if these will be the best Paralympic Games ever because I don't yet know.

"Ask me four days ahead of the Games, or better still after the Games, and I will be able to tell you for sure.

"But all the signs are there and all the pieces are in place and I am starting to feel the feeling that something very special is going to happen in 500 days' time.

"I think London 2012 will see the Paralympic Games become a bigger event than it has ever been and also allow the IPC to expand even more.

"London is one of the world's major cities so the amount of coverage the Paralympic Games will get will be unprecedented and will help raise awareness of Paralympic athletes and the Paralympic Movement.

"That can only be a good thing."

Perhaps the only slight cloud that has hovered over the preparations for the London 2012 Paralympics has been the recent row between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and London 2012.

The BOA are due 20 per cent of any surplus after the Games but have claimed that the cost of staging the Paralympics should not be taken into account when calculating that surplus as they feel it would decrease the figure they receive.

The IOC are contracted to have the final say on the matter and ruled against the BOA, who have temporarily suspended their decision to take the row to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and have decided to reopen talks with London 2012 following widespread opposition to their actions both internationally and domestically.

It became conspicuous that the IPC stayed out of the saga for such a long period of time but Sir Philip explained that it was something that his organisation didn't want to get involved in until they felt they had to.

"The IPC obviously kept out of the BOA and London 2012 row for a long time simply because it wasn't something that we felt we needed to get involved in," Sir Philip said.

"It was a dispute between the BOA and London 2012 so we wanted to stay out of it.

"But it eventually came to a point we needed to set the record straight about the financial power of the Paralympics.

"As the row went on, it was being widely assumed that the London 2012 Paralympics would make a financial loss so at the end of last month, my chief executive Xavier Gonzalez issued a statement explaining clearly that the Paralympic Games would more than cover its costs.

"The aim was simply to clear up any misconceptions.

"It has been contracted for a very long period of time that there will be an integrated Olympic and Paralympic Games, underpinned by a single budget.

"So from that point of view, the fact that any disagreement emerged is quite strange and that was obviously the view of the IOC and of London 2012.

"Am I proud to see the way that the IOC and London 2012 backed this vision during the row?

"Speaking as the IPC President, yes of course I am very proud.

"But that is what good partners do.

"The IOC, the IPC and London 2012 are all fantastic partners and we all back each other.

"From the IPC point of view, we just wanted to make it clear that the London 2012 Paralympics are not going to make a financial loss and I think we made that point well.

"I'm now looking forward to a quick resolution in this argument as we all want to start looking ahead to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games themselves as they are undoubtedly going to be one of the most amazing sporting spectacles ever witnessed."

So we are now set for the most integrated Olympic and Paralympic Games ever.

The only problem is that the two competitions could become even more integrated than many people realise.

This is because a select few Paralympians, notably South African Oscar Pistorius, are closing in on qualification for the 2012 Olympic as well as the Paralympics.

Pistorius, the four-time Paralympic gold medalist, recently secured the B qualification standard for the 400 metres at the 2012 Olympics with a  personal best of 45.61sec and he is now closing in on the A standard qualification time of 45.25.

As well as Pistorius, Ireland's visually impaired sprint star and double Paralympic gold medalist Jason Smyth may well qualify for the Olympics, having competed against able-bodied athletes at the European Championships last year, while South African swimmer Natalie du Toit is set to compete in the 2012 Olympic open water race having finished 16th in the event at the Beijing 2008 Olympics before going on to claim five gold medals at the Paralympics shortly after.

Whether Paralympians should be allowed to compete at the Olympics is somewhat of a controversial issue but Sir Philip feels it should be up to the athlete alone to decide.

"There are very few athletes who have the capabilities to compete in both the Olympic and the Paralympics," Sir Philip said.

"It is an extremely difficult task even for those top Paralympic athletes but it is all about personal choice and it is up to the individual athlete to decide what they want to do.

"I have no problem at all with athletes such as Oscar wanting to compete at the Olympics and if it can help break down the barriers between the able-bodied and the disabled; then that is fantastic.

"Guys like Oscar have said that it is their goal to do that and he is already having a big impact.


"For example, I was on an Air France plane not long ago reading the in-flight magazine and I turned to a page with an advert showing the new face of a Thierry Mugler fragrance.

"It was none other than Oscar Pistorius and for a Paralympian to feature in a fashion advert is certainly a big step towards changing perceptions of people with disabilities.

"I think the more attention Paralympians get the better so London 2012 will certainly be the biggest step in the history of the Paralympic Movement so far."

With our conversation drawing to an end, I ask Sir Philip what he expects to see on the field of play at the London 2012 Paralympics.

He doesn't need to pause for long before coming back with a comprehensive answer.

"The likes of international athletes such as Esther Vergeer, Natalie du Toit and Jason Smyth really will light up the venues and television screens with their performances, not to mention the huge dual we are expecting over 100m between Oscar Pistorius and Jerome Singleton," he says.

"Throw into this fantastic mix a brilliant crop of British athletes like David Weir and Ellie Simmonds and I can guarantee that spectators will be blown away by the performances of our athletes.

"Personally, and I am a bit bias being a former wheelchair basketball player, I'm looking forward to the Britain's men's and women's wheelchair basketball teams competing at the Paralympics.

"They are both great teams and the men's team definitely has a shot at gold which would be the icing on the cake for me.

"But London 2012 will be truly global event, not just in terms of athletes and countries taking part, but also in terms of spectators coming from all over the world to see this elite showcase of sport.

"There are two million tickets available and so far more than 750,000 people have signed up for tickets, the most ever 500 days out from the start of the Games.

"So with 500 days to go to the London 2012 Paralympics, I urge everyone out there to try their hardest to go along to the Games and see the greatest sporting event on earth close up.

"You can't explain what the Paralympics are like, you have to be there first hand to experience them and find out for yourself and I can assure you that they truly are a magical event."

Tom Degun is the Paralympics correspondent of insideworldparasport