PARALYMPIC AND PARA SPORTS NEWS

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.

Welcome to 2008 and what a year this is going to be.

Construction has been completed on all three of the Whistler Olympic and Paralympic competition venues. Thanks to the efforts of a 2,500-strong workforce recruited from across British Columbia and Canada, athletes will be able to train at these venues more than two years before the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games start. The venues in Whistler will offer a legacy for high performance and recreational use, both before and long after the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) yesterday announced it is looking for proposals from artists all around the world interested in designing the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic medals.