Channel 4 promises to turn Paralympians into TV stars

The channel, which is the official Paralympics broadcaster, will show at least 150 hours of live coverage of the events.

Julian Bellamy, Channel 4's acting chief creative officer, said: "There is a big job to do. Research we have done at Channel 4 since winning the bid shows that 84 per cent of the British public couldn't name a single British Paralympian despite the fact that Great Britain came second in the medals table at the Beijing Paralympics with over 100 medals including 42 golds.

"So we are going to spend the next two years trying to radically change that lack of awareness."

Starting on the August Bank Holiday, the channel will show a series of programmes designed to raise the profile of the Games in the run-up to 2012.

There will be an in-depth documentary, called Inside Incredible Athletes, which will follow individual Paralympian hopefuls including a blind footballer, wheelchair rugby players and disabled sprinters and swimmers.

There will also be a 10-week magazine programme called That Paralympic Show, presented by Rick Edwards and wheelchair basketball medallist Ade Adepitan.

Adepitan said the channel's "edgy and fearless" approach "will turn our Paralympians into household names".

A special website goes live this month to boost the profile of the Games.