Welcome to 2008 and what a year this is going to be.

Construction has been completed on all three of the Whistler Olympic and Paralympic competition venues. Thanks to the efforts of a 2,500-strong workforce recruited from across British Columbia and Canada, athletes will be able to train at these venues more than two years before the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games start. The venues in Whistler will offer a legacy for high performance and recreational use, both before and long after the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) yesterday announced it is looking for proposals from artists all around the world interested in designing the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic medals.

The Erasmus Mundus Master Consortium, a group of four European universities in co-operation with three non-European universities, offers the Erasmus Mundus Master in Adapted Physical Activity (APA).

Bonn, Germany - The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced today that a Brazilian athlete in the sport of Powerlifting, tested positive for a prohibited substance and a sanction of one year ineligibility was imposed for his first doping offence.

For the first time after Sochi’s election to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) CEO Xavier Gonzalez and IPC Fundraising and Sponsorship Director Sergio Furman visited the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee in Moscow, Russia.

On the occasion of today’s International Volunteer Day, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) acknowledges the commitment of thousands of volunteers whose actions enrich the Paralympic Movement and help make Paralympic Sport the growing phenomenon it is today.

Today, people from all over the world will celebrate the ‘International Day of Disabled Persons’ with different activities, including forums, public discussions, information campaigns and sport events to focus on disability issues and raise awareness.

Tickets for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremony will be on sale from 10 December.