PARALYMPIC AND PARA SPORTS NEWS

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

Further Site Inspection Visits for 2010 World Champ Bids
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.

2016 Cities Get More Information on Paralympics
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.

Final Draft of Code and New WADA 2008 Prohibited List Available
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.

IPC Accreditation Guide Published
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.

Anti-Doping Rule Violation of Belarusian Athlete
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.

ODI Off to a Great Start
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.

Winners of Paralympic Awards 2007 Announced
Bonn, Germany - Today, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced the winners of the Paralympic Awards 2007, which honour those who contribute directly to the Paralympic Games and the Paralympic Movement.

World Press Meets in Beijing
From 10 to 12 October, the second World Press Briefing organized by the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee (BOCOG), took place in Beijing, China, with more than 330 media representatives (written press, photographers, news agencies) from all over the world. Representatives from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) and the London 2012 Organizing Committee (London 2012) were present as well.

Archery Excites Korea
The city of Cheongju, Korea, was host to the 2007 IPC Archery World Championships, which took place from 2 to 10 October.