One Week To Go - Berlin Prepares for International Paralympic Day 2009

Bonn/Berlin, Germany - The fourth installment of the International Paralympic Day (IPD) is just eight days away, and athletes and fans alike are counting down with great anticipation for the major event. 03 Jul 2009 By IPC

Taking place under the patronage of Dr. Horst Koehler, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, on Saturday, 11 July in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, the IPD 2009 will offer an interesting variety of Paralympic sports to be demonstrated, including Biathlon, Football 5-a-Side, Long Jump, Table Tennis, Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair Dance Sport.

For almost every sport presented at the IPD, top athletes will be on-site to share their knowledge and provide guidance for several try-out activities, for example Paralympians Holger Nikelis in Table Tennis and Verena and Michael Bentele in Biathlon. The public will get the chance to get acquainted with the day-to-day challenges of persons with a disability.

The first event of the day will be in Wheelchair Basketball, with a game between the Alba Berlin Youth Team and the Sportgemeinschaft Handicap (SGH) Berlin Youth Team. Several other teams will also be playing throughout the day, including the German and Dutch Women’s National Team and the U21 Men’s Berlin/Brandenburg Team.

The highlight of the day will be a Long Jump competition during the late afternoon, held this year as the International Open German Championships. Many international top athletes have already confirmed their attendance: Casey Tibbs (USA), Urs Kolly (SUI), Roberto La Barbera (ITA), Xavier Le Draoullec and Jean-Baptiste Alaize (both FRA) as well as the German athletes Nick Weihs and Markus Rehm.

The IPD 2009 follows the enormous success of the IPD in 2007, 2005, and 2003, as well as the significant media coverage of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. The IPD in 2007 saw more than 42,000 people at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to experience the excitement and inspiration behind each event and athlete.

Media representatives interested in covering the International Paralympic Day 2009 should fill in the accreditation form and send it back to the IPC to the attention of Eva Werthmann, eva.werthmann@paralympic.org, fax number: +49-228-2097-209 before 8 July 2009.

The IPC is able to host this event through the active support of the IPC Gold Patrons Allianz SE and Deutsche Telekom, the IPC World Wide Partners Samsung and Otto Bock Health Care, the event partners Deutsche Bahn, the Federal Union of German Associations of Pharmacists (ABDA), the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), Volkswagen, the German National Paralympic Committee DBS, the German Ministry of the Interior (BMI) as well as the media partners Rundfunk Berlin- Brandenburg (RBB) and Tagesspiegel.