Maughan in a daze after lighting cauldron

Margaret Maughan, 84, who lit the Paralympic cauldron in London's Olympic Stadium, said Thursday she was still in a daze following her starring role in the opening ceremony.

Maughan, Britain's first gold medal winner at the inaugural 1960 Rome Paralympics, was chosen for the honour in Wednesday's showpiece event, which she described as "completely marvellous".

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe telephoned her three weeks ago to ask her about lighting the cauldron -- and promptly swore her to secrecy.

"Keeping it quite was the most difficult thing", Maughan said.

She admitted she was "still in a dazed state" about her ceremonial role in the biggest Paralympic Games to date.

"It is a proud moment that will last in your mind," she said.

With the eyes of the 80,000-seater stadium on her, 11.2 million watching on television in Britain and millions more around the world, Maughan lit the Thomas Heatherwick-designed cauldron.

Its 200 metal petals, 165 of which bear the names of the competing nations at the London 2012 Paralympics, rose up to form a giant flame.

"It was all timed so perfectly. I had an earpiece and it said 'Light the flame, Margaret'. I had to listen and was a bit nervous about that. I thought I might get it wrong but it was marvellous when it actually lit," she said.

"You could feel the heat coming off it but the torch was not hot.

"I breathed a sigh of relief."

Following a car accident in 1959 which left her unable to walk, Maughan was a patient at Britain's Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where Ludwig Guttmann, considered the father of the Paralympics, pioneered the use of sport as therapy for soldiers with spinal injuries sustained in World War II.

She won gold in the 1960 Paralympic archery competition, going on to win another in the 50m backstroke swimming in the Italian capital.

Maughan won gold again at the 1972 Heidelberg Games in West Germany in the open pairs archery, and gold in the lawn bowls pairs at the 1980 Arnhem Paralympics in the Netherlands.

"Lighting the cauldron was a wonderful experience but winning the gold and being involved in the development of disabled sport is really wonderful, especially when you think of how everything has gone forward in leaps and bounds," she said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/maughan-daze-lighting-cauldron-173807514--oly.html

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