Beijing Olympics 2008

Wang Yanju cannot watch the Beijing Games. Nor can she read about them.
Rather than being excluded from the biggest sporting event ever held in her homeland, however, Wang is one of 10 blind masseurs who will be called into action this summer as Beijing pools all its resources to host a “people’s Olympics” and the best Games yet.
“I want to take this opportunity to show that disabled people don’t just sit around waiting for society to give them handouts,” said the newly conscripted Olympic volunteer. “We can also contribute.”
Chinese athletes topped the gold-medal count at the last Paralympics in Athens four years ago. This year, representatives of the country’s 91-million disabled population want to show that they are just as capable off the sports field as they are on it. The Beijing Paralympics trail the August 8-24 Olympics by roughly one month.
“It is an honor to participate in the Games on behalf of the 60,000 blind people living in Beijing,” said Wang, 26.
Preparations for the Games have spurred a barrier-free overhaul of public facilities in the capital. International Paralympic Committee officials have described the Olympic venues and Olympic Village - which will later be used by Paralympic athletes - as the best in Olympic history.
Some 90 percent of the Olympic venues, accredited hotels, hospitals, supermarkets and department stores in key business districts will be equipped with ramps, elevators and other facilities before August.
“With these user-friendly facilities, we (disabled people) can get much more involved in society than before and do the same things as regular people,” said Wang Yuhua at a Paralympic volunteer training program. Wang suffers from infantile paralysis.
Of the 500 blind masseurs in Beijing who have applied to join the program this year, 10 have been selected. Most are studying English to provide a better service.
According to some, the Games are already exploding popular misconceptions about the disabled.
“This is a great chance for us to interact with people with disabilities,” said Zhao Rong, a student at Beijing Normal University who hopes to serve as a Paralympic volunteer. “I have been truly moved by their tenacity and optimism.”
Zhao Jihua, BOCOG’s senior volunteer training advisor, said the success of the Beijing Paralympics will boil down to individuals.
“Everybody should do their bit to care for and aid people with disabilities. This will be the foundation for a successful Games.”

from: chinadaily.com.cn

On Tuesday, the Olympic flame arrived in the small town of Amfilochia in Greece. Of the 4 torchbearers in tiny Amfilochia is the town hero, Paraskevi Kantza, who will be taking part in the 2008 Paralympics five months later.
Kantza was born in Amfilochia, and struggled with her disability since birth, but overcame all obstacles to become the town’s heroine. The 31-year old was a champion in the 2004 Athens Games, taking home a bronze medal in the women’s 100 meter T11. Although Amfilochia only had room for four torchbearers, Kantza was specifically invited from Athens to take part in this leg of the relay.
At present, Kantza lives in Athens, undergoing training every day to ready herself for the Paralympics. She is eyeing gold in September.
When she was contacted in June of 2007 by the municipal government of Amfilochia, she spent a sleepless night in thinking about her role as a torchbearer for the 2008 Torch Relay.
Because of her visual impairment, Kantza can only understand Beijing through what she hears from her friends and family. The athlete knows a bit about the ancient city, including the famous Great Wall and Imperial Palace, but she can’t wait to visit capital in person during the Paralympic Games.

from: torchrelay.beijing2008.cn

More than 1 million people had applied to be volunteers at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games as of Tuesday, less than one month before recruitment ends, the largest response in the history of the Games, official statistics showed.
More than 1.2 million have filed applications to be “City Volunteers”, who will work at designated spots across Beijing, mainly to help overseas visitors overcome the language barrier, according to the latest statistics from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG).
As many as 400,000 “City Volunteers” will be selected.
Many people have applied to be Games-time volunteers as well as “City Volunteers”, BOCOG officials said.
A total of 100,000 Games-time volunteers will be chosen for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics — about 70,000 for the Olympics and about 30,000 for the Paralympics — both exceeding the figures from the Athens Olympics, whose applicant and volunteer numbers set the previous records.
Around 160,000 volunteer applications were received before the 2004 Athens Olympics and 60,000 people were chosen.
The application period for the Beijing games started in August 2006 and is to end on March 31.
Applicants will be trained in the fields of Olympic-related knowledge, basic regulations and skills before qualifying as volunteers, according to the head of the Volunteer Department.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing Capital Airport is designating about 100,000 square meters of tarmac for Olympic Games and Paralympics charter flights to tackle the unprecedented travel rush.
The D section of the tarmac in the newly-completed Terminal 3 (T3), or one 10th of its total floor space, will be especially designated for the charters with 12 boarding gates during the Games, airport officials told a news conference here on Tuesday.
“We are well prepared and confident of ensuring convenient and comfortable services to passengers“, said Dong Zhiyi, the airport’s general manager.
He applauded the end of the four-year construction of the terminal, adding it manifested the great resolution and capabilities of China to deal with such an event.
When the world’s largest single terminal starts operation on Friday, the airport will have the capacity to carry 76 million passengers annually, against the present 36 million, he said.
The airport, China’s busiest, handled 53.47 million passengers last year, putting it among the world’s 10 busiest.
The Olympics, to be held in the Chinese capital in August, are expected to bring more passengers to the city.
A total of 26 airlines will use the new terminal. The first six — Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Qatar Airways, Qantas Airways, British Airways and El Al Israel Airlines — will use the operations immediately.
Other carriers, including Air China and Lufthansa, will begin using the terminal on March 26.
The terminal, which started construction in March 2004, covers a floor space of 1 million square meters. The expansion, which cost 27 billion yuan (3.65 billion U.S. dollars), covers 1,467 hectares, 1.6 times larger than the former space.
The third runway became operational in October and greatly eased the traffic volume.
The present airport will see its passenger flow exceed 60 million this year, seven years earlier than anticipated, Yang Guoqing, China’s General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) deputy head, said last month.

from: xinhuanet.com 

The Paralympic Movement will enjoy global technical support this summer as international IT firm Atos Origin becomes the Worldwide Information Technology Partner of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The company signed the agreement with the IPC in Beijing early this month. Under the agreement, Atos Origin will help develop the Paralympic Movement with a system designed to manage athletes’ data, including results, biographical and classification specific information.
Like the agreement Atos Origin previously signed with BOCOG, the agreement with the IPC enables Atos Origin to expand its Paralympic marketing rights worldwide.
“We heartily welcome Atos Origin to become the Worldwide Partner of the IPC. The Paralympic Games provides a stage for all athletes with a disability to demonstrate their strong spirit of meeting challenges as well as inspire and excite the world with their performances. We hope the Paralympic Games can further promote such a spirit and attract more companies like Atos Origin and individuals to support the Paralympic Movement,” said IPC President Sir Philip Craven.
Atos Origin is primarily responsible for IT consulting, systems integration, operations management, information security and software application development for the Olympic Games. The company was also the IT Partner of the 2002, 2004 and 2006 Paralympic Games and has started preparing for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. It will soon begin the first steps for 2012 in London as well.
“We are honored and proud to become the Worldwide IT Partner of the IPC. It marks a milestone in Atos Origin’s history of supporting both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, at a global level. It demonstrates that Atos Origin attaches the same level of importance to both the Olympic and the Paralympic Movements,” said Patrick Adiba, Atos Origin’s executive vice-president of the Olympics and other major events.
The company also signed an agreement with the National Paralympic Committee of China to sponsor Li Duan and Bian Jianxin, two Chinese Paralympic athletes, in defending their titles at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

from: chinadaily.com.cn