Co-ordination Commission Reviews Games Preparation

”The series of test events has helped BOCOG to gain practical experience on the Games deliverables, also on the Paralympic side."

During the sessions, the Commission, including International Paralympic Committee (IPC) representative Sir Philip Craven, IPC President, mainly focused on reviewing the service plans to all clients at Games time (athletes, media, sponsors, etc), also using the main learnings from the 19 test events (including one Paralympic test event), which have already successfully been conducted this year.

The Paralympic Working Group of the Commission addressed topics including sports, marketing, city operations, Paralympic Family Services and Ceremonies. Entering the last few months before the Games, it becomes critical at this stage to see, if all the activities and operations to be performed at venues and the village have been planed and tested sufficiently and if appropriate resources have been put in place.

Said Sir Philip: ”The series of test events has helped BOCOG to gain practical experience on the Games deliverables, also on the Paralympic side. Overall, we are pleased and BOCOG has staged an excellent Paralympic test event last month. What will be needed now is to drill down into the final details. Considering that the Paralympic ticket sales will be announced soon, it will be important to increase the promotion and excite spectators about our event.”

Prior to the meeting, the Commission also paid a one day-visit to the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian venue in Hong Kong.

As a next step in the Games preparation process, a further Paralympic test event will be held in January 2008 (Wheelchair Basketball) as well as a series of meetings with the IPC to concentrate on Paralympic specific issues.

The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games will take place from 6 to 17 September 2008, with around 4,000 athletes from 160 countries competing in 20 sports.