IPD 2005
On 27 August 2005, a crowd of over 30,000 people gathered on the central Marktplatz (market place) in Bonn, Germany, to experience the 2005 International Paralympic Day (IPD).
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) hosted the event, which offered
visitors the chance to experience live Paralympic sport, to meet Paralympic
athletes and to see how sport unites people.
A variety of Paralympic sports
were showcased to the public throughout the day by national and international
athletes. The highlight of the day was the Long Jump competition. Five world
class athletes demonstrated their amazing speed and power to a packed crowd, as
they attempted to break the current world record on a long jump pit
purpose-built for the IPD. The longest jump of the day went to upper limb
amputee Anton Skachkov (UKR) with a distance of 6.80m.
However, in the
F44 class, Marlon Shirley (USA), world record holder and gold medallist at the
ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games jumped a distance of 6.61m. Shirley was followed by
Xavier Le Draoullec (FRA) with 5.36m. In the F42 class, world record holder
Wojtek Czyz (GER) jumped 6.12m, followed by Heinrich Popow (GER) with 5.12m.
Said Popow: “In 1992, the day before my leg was amputated I walked on
the Marktplatz. Today, back on the Marktplatz, I was given an opportunity to
show the people of Bonn that life continues. It was really emotional and gave me
goosebumps!”
The current German Wheelchair Basketball Champions, RSV Lahn-Dill beat
three-time German Champions ASV Bonn (46:38) in a thrilling demonstration match. After the match, the players
offered
coaching to IPD
visitors who could then participate in fun matches.
German Table Tennis
stars Holgar Nikelis and Selcuk Cetin wowed the crowd with their skills on the
table and then discussed their experiences and passed on advice to those who
were gathered. Paralympian Axel Hecker (GER) was also on hand to coach
young and old as they tested their accuracy with a Biathlon rifle, blindfolded,
simulating shooting for athletes with a visual impairment.
Local Sitting
Volleyball team Bayer 04 Leverkusen succumbed in their match against visiting
team Spid Sarajevo (2:1) in the middle of the market square.
In his closing
speech, IPC President Phil Craven said: ‘I’d like to thank the people of Bonn
for turning out in such great numbers to support Paralympic sport. We’ve seen
some great athletes today. Come back in two years time and we will be here
again.”
In the context of the United Nation’s initiative “International Year of Sport
and Physical Education”, the German Ministry of Interior, is one of the main
sponsors of the IPD 2005. The day would not have been possible without the
support of all the sponsors who enabled the IPC to make Paralympic sport
“World-class in Bonn”.
