Paralympians are ready, willing and able

Anna Sharkey is a member of the GB goalball women's squad. She was introduced to the dedicated Paralympic sport at an event for the blind in 2001.

Anna competed at junior international level a year later and won gold as part of the senior GB team at the European Championships in 2009. Both Anna and her brother Michael have a congenital eye condition that causes partial sightedness. Michael is a member of the GB goalball men's squad and competes with his sister on the same team in domestic competitions. They are both physiotherapists.

Anne Sharkey: "We have been close growing up. I followed in his footsteps all the way."

December 1, 2010, Wales National Pool, Swansea

Eleanor Simmonds is the youngest-ever individual Paralympic or Olympic gold medallist. she won the 100m and 400m freestyle swimming events in Beijing in 2008 aged just 13. Simmonds, who was born with achondroplasia (dwarfism) began swimming when she was five. She currently competes in multiple events, is world champion in four and world record holder in the 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley. Simmonds moved to Swansea in 2007 to train with Billy Pye, a former miner and award-winning head coach of the British Disability High Performance Centre.

Christopher Pye: "As a coach I think you have to be not just a coach, you have to be a mentor, you have to be a bit of a psychologist as well."

Eleanor Simmonds: "Being in the world's greatest event in the swimming pool, on the blocks, thousands of people cheering for you in the crowds, it's just such a buzz."

March 8, 2011, Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire

Mandip Sehmi (left) and Andy Barrow play in the GB wheelchair rugby squad. Sehmi broke his neck in a car crash that left him paralysed from the chest down.

During rehabilitation at Stoke Mandeville he was introduced to wheelchair rugby. He currently trains with his club in London and this year played with Arizonan team Phoenix Heat, competing in the US wheelchair rugby league. Sehmi's mother Jagtar Sehmi was born in Punjab, India and moved to the UK to marry in the 1970s. Barrow previously played rugby union, but broke his neck during a game aged 17 and took up wheelchair rugby. The pair represented Great Britain in Beijing in 2008, with Barrow as team captain.

Andy Barrow: "We are athletes first, disabled second and not just guys in chairs having a go."

The National Portrait Gallery/BT Road to 2012 project, until September 25, 2011, admission free.

May 12, 2011, Richmond Park, London

David Weir, born without the use of his legs, was introduced to wheelchair racing at primary school and first competed in the London Mini Marathon aged eight. He met his coach, Jenny Archer, at the London Youth Games and she guided him to double gold in Beijing 2008, triple gold at the 2011 World Championships and a record fifth title at the 2011 London Marathon. Archer was a fitness coach with Wimbledon Football Club for 11 years.

Jenny Archer: "When David came to me and said he wanted to win gold and become world champion, I said 'I'll take you on and I'll make you laugh and I'll make you cry'."