The Beijing Olympic Games organizers (BOCOG) on Wednesday dropped the overseas leg of the Paralympic torch relay because of the devastating Sichuan earthquake.

The torch was to travel through the Summer and Winter Olympic host cities of London, Vancouver and Sochi, as well as Hong Kong before the Sept 6-17 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

But now its relay will be restricted to the Chinese mainland.

Zhang Qiuping, director of BOCOG’s Paralympics department, said the May 12 quake had necessitated the changes.

“The main reason is the devastating earthquake in Sichuan. Now we want to focus on relief and reconstruction work and preparations for the Paralympics.”

But, he said, overseas torchbearers for the Paralympics are still welcome to participate in the adomestic relay.

The 16-stop domestic relay route has been changed too, and the torch will not travel to Chengdu, Chongqing, Urumqi and Tianjin.

The original Paralympic torch relay plan was released last September when its one-year countdown began.

The BOCOG Torch Relay Center will announce the new Paralymic torch relay plan soon.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

May 29 marks the 100-day countdown to the 2008 Paralympic Games. It is an important milestone for Beijing as it continues to steadily progress toward fulfilling its promise of delivering Paralympic Games equally as important and splendid as the Olympic Games.
As Deng Pufang, Executive Vice-President of BOCOG and President of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, has said, “These Beijing Games have special significance,” as it is first time in history that one organizing committee will hold both the Paralympics and Olympics.”

Many “firsts”

Scheduled for September 6-17, the Beijing Paralympics will see 20 sports contested — more than any Games in Paralympic history. An estimated 4,000 athletes, 2,500 coaches and officials and 4,000 journalists from over 150 countries will attend the Beijing Paralympics — more participants than in any past Paralympic Games.
According to BOCOG, all Paralympic competitions will be held at Olympic venues, which are all equipped with barrier-free facilities. In addition, over 10 tourist attractions in Beijing will be equipped with barrier-free facilities before the Beijing Paralympics.
The Official Website of the Beijing Paralympic Games (paralympic.beijing2008.cn) will include special browsing tools to help people with a visual impairment. Some competition venues will be equipped with wireless hearing aids, and some visual and audio media will offer sign language translation software.
In terms of preparations, BOCOG has held 26 training sessions covering 18 topics for 1,702 technical officials, 637 of whom will be working for the Beijing Paralympics. The competition schedules have been finalized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and regulations on application eligibility for athletes have been formulated. Since last September, a series of Good Luck Beijing sport events, including goalball and wheelchair basketball tournaments, have been held as rehearsals for the upcoming Beijing Paralympics.

Fair competition

To ensure fair competition, BOCOG will classify Paralympic athletes into different categories according to type and extent of physical disability.

Well-prepared volunteers

Volunteers serving the Paralympic Games must be fully prepared in terms of principles and skills. BOCOG has completed recruitment of all 30,000 volunteers required for the Beijing Paralympic Games. The volunteers will receive training materials, and BOCOG has also set up 32 training bases to enhance the volunteers’ service skills and awareness.

Successful marketing

Marketing and ticketing efforts for the Beijing Paralympics have been well received around the world. There are 14 partners, ten sponsors, three exclusive suppliers and two suppliers of the Beijing Paralympic Games. More than 100 officially licensed Paralympic products have been placed on the market, including clothes, pins, toys and stationery. BOCOG has defined relevant rules and regulations for the usage of the emblem, mascot and logo of the Beijing Paralympics. Tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies have been available since December 2007, and tickets for competitions will also be available soon.

Paralympic Education

The Paralympic Games will leave China with the precious legacy of education. By now, China has set up and named 556 Olympic Education Model Schools, all of which have rolled out Paralympic education curricula. BOCOG has also developed the “Heart-to-Heart” program, linking 162 middle schools and primary schools with Paralympic committees in 159 countries and regions.

Opening ceremony of Paralympic Games will give a surprise to the world

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Paralympic Games will attract attention both from home and abroad.

According to Zhang Jigang, deputy director of the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and chief director of the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies, rehearsals are in full swing. Six thousand artists with a disability will take part in the opening ceremony. The program of opening ceremony has been approved by both BOCOG and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Zhang said the opening ceremony would highlight the theme of life through creative interpretations of life, human nature and humanitarianism.

The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games will emphasize the “interaction” between life and nature.

IPC President Sir Philip Craven has expressed belief that the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games would be the most outstanding Paralympic Games in history. The Beijing Paralympic Games will link human civilization to the spirit of the Paralympic Games, humanistic ideas and high ideals, he said.

from: paralympic.beijing2008.cn

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

Ensuring security during the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympics is one of this year’s most important tasks for public security departments nationwide, particularly in the capital, a senior Chinese leader said here on Saturday.
Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, who oversees law and order, said Beijing public security departments should strengthen their preparations and trainings.
They should also establish information, emergency response and social mobility systems, and battle against activities aimed at disturbing the Olympics and Paralympics events.
Zhou said police should also provide good service as well as strictly enforce the law, trying their best not to disturb the normal lives of residents.
He urged public security departments to ensure order during the Spring Festival, which starts on Thursday.
He made the remarks during visits with Beijing police, armed police and survivors of a public security martyr who died when he tried to stop a vehicle driven by suspected robbers.

from: xinhuanet.com 

Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), on Wednesday spoke highly of Beijing’s preparation for the 2008 Paralympic Games.
“I and my colleagues were shocked by the great National Indoor Stadium (NIS) and the brilliant work of creating a barrier-free city in Beijing here,” Sir Craven said on Wednesday when he attended the draw of the Paralympics‘ wheelchair basketball tournament, which is slated to open on September 6.
“I believe China will have a better Paralympics four years after the Athens Games,” he said.
“China will win many, many gold medals at home. But I would say it will not be easy as other countries are also well prepared for the Games,” Craven said.
The draw of the wheelchair basketball competition was the first of any Paralympic events.
“The draw is a symbol that the preparation of the Beijing Paralympics is entering a new era,” said the Paralympics chief.
“Beijing did great job in the past one year and was making a great relationship with IPC,” he added.
Sir Craven arrived in Beijing Tuesday afternoon and paid his first visit to the National Indoor Stadium hours later.
“I drove my wheelchair through the warmup court, the seats and the competition court,” he said. “The organizers paid great attention to the barrier-free facilities that make disabled people feel comfortable watching the games.”
“I also heard that not only the NIS and other sports complex, but all the visiting areas have been barrier-free designed for the Paralympics. It’s not just good to the disabled. It’s a symbol of a civilized society full of love and care,” Sir Craven said.

from: xinhuanet.com

Next week’s wheelchair basketball tournament in Beijing is giving Olympic organizers a final chance to make sure that preparations are in the place for the Paralympic competition in September.
The tournament, an invitational, will be held at the newly-built National Indoor Stadium from January 20-25.
It is one of two pre-Paralympic test events that have been scheduled and follows on from last year’s Good Luck Beijing International Goalball Tournament.
Eight teams from six countries will participate. The women’s side features teams from China, Canada, Germany and Japan, while the men’s teams come from China, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia.
Overseeing the matches will be 24 international officials from the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), the sport’s governing body.
A total of 842 volunteers will be assigned to their posts on January 18. Games organizers will also take this opportunity to disseminate knowledge about the Paralympics.
Zhu Shanlu, head of the Beijing Olympic Education team, has already begun workshops to educate BOCOG staff, technical officials, volunteers and Olympic sponsors about the Paralympics.
“Para” refers to the fact that the two Games are held in tandem, as opposed to implying some kind of disability. BOCOG has pledged that the 2008 Paralympics will be a “Games of Equal Splendor.”
Nonetheless, cheap tickets attest to the struggling popularity of many events. Wheelchair basketball is one of the few exceptions that enjoy evergreen support.
It was invented in 1946 by U.S. basketball players keen to shrug off their wartime injuries and re-experience the exhilaration of an athletic sport in a team environment.
It is now played in over 80 countries by some 25,000 people with physical disabilities. It is similar to basketball except that the wheelchair is considered a part of the player’s body.
Every team has five players and seven substitutes; each game is made up of four 10-minute periods.
Players who spin their wheels more than two times without dribbling are booked for traveling violations. Faster wheelchairs are also employed featuring anti-tipping devices and up to four wheels.
The Beijing Paralympics will run from September 6-17. It is expected to attract 4,000 athletes from over 150 countries and regions. They will compete in 20 sports (471 disciplines) including goalball, boccia, rowing, sailing (held in Qingdao), equestrian (Hong Kong) and wheelchair rugby.

from: xinhuanet.com