To honour the contribution of Stoke Mandeville to the formation of the Games, the London 2012 Paralympic Flame will be lit there on August 28 before it is taken to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford for the Paralympic Opening Ceremony on August 29 in a 24-hour Torch Relay.

The idea has led to calls for Stoke Mandeville to become the permanent home of the Paralympic Flame in a move that would replicate the Olympic Flame, which is lit at the ruins of the Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia before every Olympic Games.

But Sir Philip (pictured below) insisted the Flame has its own identity and does not need to replicate its Olympic counterpart.


"Having a permanent home for the Paralympic Flame was something that was mentioned when we were in Greece for the lighting of the London 2012 Olympic Flame," Sir Philip told insideworldparasport.

"Obviously Stoke Mandeville is the birthplace of the Paralympics but the Paralympic Flame itself is slightly different.

"We have always maintained that the Paralympic Flame is lit using the spirit and energy of physical human endeavour, and that is what it represents.

"That spirit and energy exists across the world so to have a permanent location where it is lit would be slightly contradictory to that notion.

"It is a potential idea and something we will perhaps look at down the line so that's all I will say about it at the moment."

Sir Philip was at Stoke Mandeville last weekend to help unveil a statue and bust of feted German neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann – the father of the modern Paralympic Games who organised sports competitions for World War Two veterans rehabilitating from spinal cord injuries at the local hospital in 1948.


The life-sized cast-bronze statue (pictured above) will stand at Stoke Mandeville Stadium during the London 2012 Games before being moved to a permanent home at the National Spinal Injuries Centre in the village; the bust will be loaned by the IPC to all future host nations of the Paralympic Games as a symbol of remembrance of Sir Ludwig's achievements.

A number of influential figures have expressed their hope that the IPC will support the idea, including Mike McKenzie, chairman of the Poppa Guttmann Trust, who said that it would be "the perfect way" to help commemorate Sir Ludwig's contribution to the Paralympic Movement.

London 2012's concept for the Paralympic Torch Relay will see four separate flames lit in London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff before a special ceremony at Stoke Mandeville brings them together to create the Paralympic Flame.

The 2012 Paralympic Torch Relay will be a six-day event that begins on August 24 with the London Flame lighting.

This will be followed by the illuminating of the Belfast Flame on August 25, with Edinburgh and Cardiff following suit on August 26 and 27, respectively.

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