05 September 2008
2008 Paralympic Games to Begin in Beijing
Rowing introduced as new sport
Washington — When the Olympic Games drew to a close in August, a second cadre of elite, world-class athletes arrived in Beijing. Close to 4,000 Paralympic athletes traveled to China from some 140 countries to prove their skills in the Paralympic Games September 6-17.
There are 20 paralympic sports including wheelchair tennis, fencing, rugby, powerlifting, sailing and volleyball sitting, and rowing has been added to the Paralympic Games for 2008. Athletes will compete for over 470 gold medals.
The opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games is scheduled for September 6. Jennifer Armbruster, a five-time Paralympian and captain of the 2008 U.S. Women’s Goalball Team, will be the flag-bearer for the U.S. Paralympic Team, according to U.S. Paralympics.
Goalball is a sport played by athletes who are visually impaired or blind. Teams attempt to throw a ball over the goal line at the opposite end of the court. U.S. Paralympics said Armbruster started to play the sport after high school, when she began to lose her vision.
SPIRIT IN MOTION
The motto of the International Paralympic Movement is “Spirit in Motion,” words that capture the goal of its endeavors “enabling athletes from all backgrounds to unite on a single stage, inspiring and exciting the world with their performances.”
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC), based in Bonn, Germany, traces its origins to a 1948 competition organized in England for injured World War II veterans. Olympic-style games for athletes with disabilities were first held in 1960, and by 1988, the Paralympic Games had joined the Olympic Games, both winter and summer, in the same host city.
The goals of this movement reach far beyond a two-week series of events held every two years. The president of the committee, Sir Philip Craven, says sport "gives people the passion to fight for their lives and lead a full life." Craven, who uses a wheelchair as a result of an accident in his adolescence, is a five-time Paralympian. He made the comment in an interview with the official Web site of the Beijing Games.
The U.S. Paralympic Committee cites research finding that physical activity helps all people lead better lives — they have better relationships and a greater sense of achievement that extends beyond physical activity itself to influence all aspects of their lives. U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, wants to convey this message to 21 million Americans with disabilities who typically have lower rates of physical activity than others.
Beyond the training and support provided to elite athletes who will compete at the global level, U.S. Paralympics works to increase access to sports for people with disabilities at the community level, with a goal of establishing programs in 250 cities by 2012.
In early 2008, the IPC launched the Paralympian Ambassador Program, naming 11 past and present athletes to heighten awareness and understanding among young people about the Paralympic movement.
For more information see “A Conversation with a Top Paralympics Track Athlete” and the video on “Paralympics Hopeful Melissa Stockwell.”
