The World Championships of the last months have clearly
demonstrated that Paralympic athletes perform at the highest
level. Impressive and sometimes even unbelievable world
record times were achieved at the IPC World Swimming
Championships in December in Argentina. The participants of
the 7th IPC World Nordic Skiing Championships in February
2003 had to give their all on an extremely challenging course
and finished the races in remarkable times which were founded
on hard training, excellent body conditioning and sophisticated
technique.
Apart from these elite sporting events, the International Paralympic
Committee is increasingly focusing on sport development
activities. This new centre of attention has to be
seen twofold: first, sport development in a sense of developing
sport opportunities for people with a disability on a
grass root level. It is important for us as the international
representative organisation of sport for people with a disability
to cover all aspects of sport.
The Paralympic Games are clearly the pinnacle of this movement,
but they could never exist in such a successful format
without a global basis of sport being performed on a recreational
level. The IPC is committed to support sport opportunities
for all people with a disability, as recreational athletes
are an equitable target group of the IPC as are elite athletes.
The fact that the number of applications for the IPC’s development
fund tripled in the last years shows the great demand
for assistance regarding sport opportunities especially in less
developed countries. During the upcoming months, we will
draft a development concept and will also hire a new staff
member specifically dedicated to this programme.
Secondly, sport has to be seen as a means to promote global
development. I had the opportunity to attend a United Nations
Conference on Sport and Development in Switzerland in
February, at which specific recommendations to the UN Secretary-
General were detailed. Especially for people with a disability,
who are too often neglected in society, sport plays an
important role in social, economic and personal development.
Another important aspect of human development is education.
In physical education classes, many children with a disability
have their first active sport experience. Physical education
is an important means of accessing other human rights
such as securing good health, liberty, security, economic
well-being, and participation in social and political activities.
I truly believe that the IPC is on the right track when promoting
sport from grass root to elite levels. In the long-term,
this approach will strengthen our movement, because it will
enable many athletes with a disability to practice sport
according to their needs, their talent and their goals.
