Royal Mail To Mark Paralympic Medals

To mark the return of the Paralympic Games in Great Britain, Royal Mail has announced it will issue a set of six first class stamps in a specially designed miniature sheet, celebrating ParalympicsGB’s gold medal wins at the London 2012 Games. 

All Paralympic gold medallists will be given the opportunity to feature on these stamps and each stamp will feature a different group of Paralympic gold medal winners. 

This will be the first time that a set of stamps have been issued to celebrate Paralympic gold medallists from the host country. On 29th August, Royal Mail will also become the first postal administration whose country is hosting the games to issue a set of stamps to celebrate the start of the Paralympic Games.

This summer, around 4,200 athletes from 160 countries are expected to attend the Paralympic Games, with 471 medal events on the programme spread across 21 sports. 

At the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, ParalympicsGB won 42 gold medals. 

Royal Mail has a long association with the British Paralympic Association. In 1992, Royal Mail was the official sponsor of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams, at the Barcelona games. This year, in support of ParalympicsGB, Royal Mail will be giving £200,000 to the British Paralympics Association, which will be shared equally among all ParalympicsGB gold medallists.  

Welcoming the announcement, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, 11 time Paralympic Gold medallist, said: ‘I’m delighted that Royal Mail will be producing stamps to celebrate the nation’s Gold Medals at the Paralympic games this summer. Royal Mail stamps have become an integral part of the paralympic legacy in the UK. The return of the Paralympic games to the UK makes it an even more special event and I look forward to celebrating every win with the team.’

Tim Hollingsworth, chief executive officer, British Paralympic Association, added: ‘Commemorating our gold medallists’ achievements on a set of stamps is a first in the history of the Paralympic Games. It is a fitting tribute which demonstrates how far the movement has come in recent times. Royal Mail has been a friend of the BPA for a long time.  We are grateful to them for their significant contribution of £200,000 to help support all of our Paralympians gold medal winners.’