PARALYMPIC AND PARA SPORTS NEWS

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”.

Bonn, Germany – Today, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) proudly announced the launch of its Paralympian Ambassador Programme.

From 14 to 16 March 2008, the tenth edition of the International Bernd Best Wheelchair Rugby Tournament will take place in Cologne, Germany.

On 29 January, the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (BOCOG) organized a workshop with sponsors of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.

Last week, a delegation from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lead by President Sir Philip Craven and CEO Xavier Gonzalez was in Beijing, China, to observe the Good Luck Wheelchair Basketball Invitational Tournament, as well as the Olympic Test Events of Weightlifting and Swimming, which will use the same venues during the Paralympics.

The Laureus World Sports Academy recently announced the five nominations for the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Category for the Laureus World Sports Awards 2008. Nominees are:

Today, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) signed an agreement with Atos Origin to become its Worldwide IT Partner.

The 2008 International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport (ICSEMIS) is the successor of the Pre-Olympic Congresses and the Paralympic Congress, and will be held in Guangzhou, China, from 1 to 5 August 2008, themed "Sport Sciences and Harmonious Society in the 21st Century". The deadline for submission of abstracts has been extended. If you are interessted in participation please submit your abstract until 31 January 2008. Submission information can be retrieved from www.icsemis2008.org.

Today, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) started an embedded version of its web TV channel ParalympicSport.TV on its official website www.paralympic.org.

At the end of last year, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hosted the Loterias Caixa International Meeting (LCIM) for the first time.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that all seven cities applying to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games have returned their Application Files, which contain their responses to the IOC Candidature Acceptance Procedure questionnaire.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) offers the following position statement in light of the recent media attention generated by a scientific study initiated by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that reports that sprint performance with Cheetah prostheses offers clear mechanical advantages compared to the sprint performance of able-bodied athletes who are capable of similar levels of performance.

The London 2012 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (London 2012) recently launched the ‘Get Set London Roadshow’ 2008, which will now be travelling throughout London in the coming weeks and months.

Yesterday, Liu Jian, Director of the Volunteer Department of the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee (BOCOG), released news on the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Volunteer Programme.