6 months ago

Paul Deighton, CEO of LOCOG, presented Tim Reddish, Chairman of the British Paralympic Association (BPA), with the first of the petals during the Association’s NPC meeting.

Tim Reddish said: ‘To receive this petal from Paul Deighton in front of our National Paralympic Committee is a fitting end to a wonderful summer of sport. LOCOG put on a superb Paralympic Games and we are grateful for all that they did to advance the Paralympic movement here in the UK. We will treasure the petal as a reminder of the fantastic 10 days that saw the Paralympic Games come home and the nation take ParalympicsGB to their hearts.’

Designed by renowned British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the London 2012 cauldron represented every participating nation through a series of handmade copper elements, known as ‘petals’, with one created for every country taking part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Heatherwick Studio’s vision was that there would not be a large cauldron left after the 2012 Games. Instead, each of the copper petals was to be offered to each country as a memento of their incredible sporting achievements.

Over the last three months, Yorkshire based company Stage One who manufactured the cauldron has cleaned up the petals under the guidance of Heatherwick Studio. Each petal is now housed in a beautiful presentation box.

Yesterday the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) commenced the distribution programme and, after today’s delivery, both the BPA and the British Olympic Association (BOA) have received the first petals from the cauldron.

The second set of petals to be delivered will be to Brazil and they will be presented during the forthcoming knowledge transfer debrief organised by the Rio de Janeiro Organising Committee in mid November where LOCOG representatives will pass on their learnings to future host and candidate cities.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson will hand deliver the third set of petals to Indian representatives during his visit to the country on a tour to promote London at the end of November. The other competing nations will receive their petals from that point onwards and before the end of the year.

Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG, said: ‘I am delighted to conclude the story of the cauldron by presenting each National Olympic Committee and each National Paralympic Committee with the copper petal that represented the achievements of their teams at the 2012 Games. Each petal is an iconic symbol of each nation's participation in the London Games and a fitting final gift from London to the world.’