August 23, 2012

To tweet this release: http://es.pn/NDoxrw

ESPN to Present London 2012 Paralympic Games Throughout the Caribbean and Spanish-Speaking Latin America

ESPN International will present coverage every day of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, this year’s version of the Olympic-style event for athletes with disabilities.  The Paralympic Games will take place August 29 to September 9, and air on ESPN throughout the Caribbean and Spanish-speaking Latin America.  This is the first time that the Paralympic Games have been televised on ESPN International.

Two daily one-hour shows dedicated to the Paralympic Games will air on ESPN3 in prime time, and be re-aired on ESPN throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America and the Caribbean, during the twelve days of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The event will also air on ESPNPlay.com, ESPN’s broadband platform, in 15 markets throughout the region, including Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela.

In addition, highlights of the competition will be featured on SportsCenter:  on ESPN 2 in Latin America at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.; and on ESPN at 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. All times are Eastern.

The London 2012 Paralympic Games will feature 4,200 athletes from 160 countries competing in 21 sports.  More tickets have been sold for these Paralympic Games than ever before in the event’s history, which began in Rome in 1960 when 400 athletes competed from 23 countries.

Athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean expected to compete include Naomi Soazo of Venezuela, who won the gold medal in judo in Beijing 2008; Mexico’s women’s and Colombia’s men’s wheelchair basketball teams; the sprinter, Jamol Pilgrim, the first athlete to represent Antigua and Barbuda; the five-a-side football squad from Argentina, which has won silver and bronze but hopes to oust two-time gold medal winners Brazil; and Lee Frawley, the first and only paralympian from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who will complete in the equestrian event.

“ESPN is pleased to offer viewers in Spanish-speaking Latin America and the Caribbean daily coverage of the spectacular London Paralympic Games,” said Michael Walters, vice president, programming, ESPN International. “We will have dedicated Paralympics highlight programs, as well as coverage within SportsCenter, of the more than 20 sports featured in the Games, including football, cycling, swimming, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball, tennis, and rugby.”