Natalia Partyka, one of Poland's Paralympic gold medalists Shutterstock

The spectacular closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games in London brought to an end not only the biggest-ever Paralympics, but also a sporting festival that started with the Olympic Games in August.

Polish Paralympians arrived back home with an impressive haul of medals. The country took ninth place in the final medal count, with 36 in total, including 14 gold, 13 silver and 9 bronze medals – a performance that Poland got nowhere near to matching during the main Olympic event in London.

Notable performers included Natalia Partyka, who retained her Paralympic title in the women’s table tennis singles Class 10 event, and Rafał Wilk, who won two golds in cycling.
China finished top of the Paralympic medals table with 231 medals, including 95 golds. Russia was second and Great Britain third. The US, which topped the Olympics medals table, finished in sixth place with 98 medals.

The 2012 Paralympics broke all manner of records, including number of athletes (4,200), tickets sold (2.7 million) and TV audience (around 4 billion people).

“These Games have changed us all forever,” said International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven as he declared the 2012 Paralympics closed.

“The thrilling achievements of the Paralympians have caused us to see them as role models, not victims. They have changed our lives,” The Daily Telegraph wrote in an editorial.