The Australian Research Council (ARC) awarded Euro 230,350 (= AUD 365.000) to support a classification research project in the sport of IPC Athletics, entitled “Evaluating the Impact of Neuromusculoskeletal Impairment on Athletic Performance” and lead by Dr. Sean Tweedy (University of Queensland, Australia), Dr. John Bourke (Head of Classification, IPC Athletics) and Prof. Yves Vanlandewijck (Chairperson, IPC Sports Science Committee).

From 18 to 20 October, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Anti-Doping Committee and the IPC Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) Committee held their annual meetings in Bonn, Germany.

Bonn, Germany - The 9th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Co-ordination Commission Meeting took place in Beijing, China, from 23 to 25 October.

From 19 to 21 October, the annual International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Sports Council Meeting was held in Bad Honnef, Germany.

From 11 to 14 October, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) conducted its first site inspection visit to one of the bid cities for the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships after this process has already been successfully started for Athletics in September.

Last week, the seven Applicant Cities for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games - Baku (Azerbaijan), Chicago (USA), Doha (Qatar), Madrid (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Tokyo (Japan)* - attended the 2016 Applicant Cities’ Seminar at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, during which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) provided advice and guidance to the cities for the months of bidding.

Following its approval by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Executive Committee on 22 September, the 2008 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods has been published and will come into effect on 1 January 2008.

Bonn, Germany - The updated version of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Accreditation and Sport Entries at the Paralympic Games - Users’ Guide has been published today. This version of the Guide was produced and updated for the context of accreditation to be used during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. It will be updated following every edition of the Paralympic Games.

Bonn, Germany - The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced today that a Belarusian athlete in the sport of Powerlifting, tested positive for a Prohibited Substance and a sanction of two years ineligibility was imposed for her first doping offence.

In its first year, the Organizational Development Initiative (ODI) is off to a great start. With nine National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) participating from four regions the ODI had officially gone global.