PARALYMPIC AND PARA SPORTS NEWS

From 23 to 24 February 2008, the second International Symposium on Olympic and Paralympic Pedagogy was successfully held in Tehran, Iran, in the presence of Mr. Zhenliang He, Chairman of International Olympic Committee (IOC) Commission for Culture and Olympic Education as well as Bart Schell, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Development Administration Manager.

Renovations are nearly complete in more than 120 member hotels for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Bonn, Germany – With less than two years to go before the Opening of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Co-ordination Commission, including International Paralympic Committee (IPC) representative Rita van Driel, successfully concluded its sixth visit to Vancouver, the host city of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Bonn, Germany – Today, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has released the first edition of ParaEmotion on ParalympicSport.TV, its internet TV channel.

On 25 February, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) signed an important contract with CNC China Netcom Group for fibre and uplink services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The 4th International Olympic Committee (IOC) World Conference on Women and Sport will take place for the first time in the Middle East, in Jordan, from 8 to 10 March, under the patronage of Their Majesties, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The Paralympic Council of Ireland (PCI) recently launched its ParaLions Programme to encourage young people with a disability to become involved in Paralympic Sport and become a potential Irish athlete for the London 2012 Paralympic Games and beyond.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2008 IPC Development Grants.

Canadian children can draw their way into some great ‘Team Canada’ sporting clothing by designing a poster for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. The creators of the top three posters in the national contest will not only win 2008 Team Canada merchandise and clothing, but will also have their posters hung in Petro-Canada stations across Canada and in the Canadian athletes' lounge at the Paralympic Village in Beijing, China.

From 13 to 17 February 2008, the 10th International Congress on Winter Sport Medicine took place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Bonn, Germany – Yesterday, Dutch Wheelchair Tennis player Esther Vergeer was named Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability at the ninth Laureus World Sports Awards. The award was presented by Laureus World Sports Academy members Ilie Nastase and Marcel Desailly at a ceremony held at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board is opposed to offering medal events at IPC sanctioned competitions that combine sports classes for athletes with a visual impairment and blind together with those of other sport classes in head-to-head competition.

Bonn, Germany - Today the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) re-launched its web TV channel ParalympicSport.TV.

Bonn, Germany - Last weekend, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board (GB) concluded its 49th official meeting in Bonn, Germany.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) welcomed six National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) into the Organizational Development Initiative (ODI) yesterday. There are now a total of 15 NPCs from four regions participating in the ODI. The new NPCs are from Azerbaijan, Cape Verde, Kenya, Rwanda, Tunisia and Uruguay. They joined the NPCs of Burundi, Lesotho, Morocco, Namibia, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Turkey and Zambia who joined in the first year of the initiative in 2007.

On the evening of 7 February, athletes, representatives from sport, the German government, partners, sponsors and media gathered for the annual International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Reception at the Headquarters of the Deutsche Telekom AG in Bonn, Germany.

On the occasion of the annual International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Reception, Gudrun Doll-Tepper, the President of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE), presented IPC President Sir Philip Craven with a copy of “Athlete First: A History of the Paralympic Movement”.