The Paralympics Torch Ceremony

The Paralympics are set to begin in just a little over a week and athletes all over the world are getting read for the games. This week 68 athletes from Mexico flew into Beijing and Spain is set to send 133 athletes. This Thursday, August 28th, the Paralympics Torch was lit in a special way, which made use of the sun to start the fire.

Jiang Xintian is a Chinese actor who was born deaf and dumb. She hosts a show, in which she uses her hands to speak and has been very successful. Xintian was chosen to light the torch. She held the torch in front of a concave mirror erected at the Temple of Heaven, which is an ancient temple that was completed in 1420 and symbolizes the link between heaven and Earth.

The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, said “The flame will symbolize over the next 10 days the unique sporting spirit displayed by Paralympic athletes,” during the opening ceremony.

The international portion of the Paralympics Torch Relay was canceled, but instead 850 Paralympic athletes will carry the torch along two routes throughout China. The torch will pass through 11 different Chinese Regions over its 10 day trip. The two routes are designed to display Ancient China and Modern China, with the Ancient Relay beginning today and the Modern Relay beginning on Saturday.

The torch will return to Beijing on the 5th of September and will be brought to the opening ceremony the next day.

Navistar and Blubird are Recalling Wheelchair Lifts

Navistar International and Blue Bird Corporation have created recall campaigns for certain models of school buses, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Navistar is recalling 24,977 school and commercial buses because of a stalling condition defined as “hard starting,” which is caused by “damaged terminals in a fuse connector that is part of the fuel injector system,” according to the NHTSA Web site.

Blue Bird’s recall of a total of 2,503 commercial buses and All American, conventional and Micro Bird school buses with model years of 2006-2008 is due to installed wheelchair lifts that do not comply with federal motor vehicle safety requirements.

Wheelchair Ramp made in 24 Hours!

Pretty embarrassing!

Canadian Olympic Committee officials constructed a wheelchair-accessible ramp in 24-hours for Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan’s wheelchair at the Canada Olympic House.

The ramp was created in less than a day before Canada House shuts down at the end of the Olympics.

COC spokesman Steve Keogh said the lack of wheelchair access didn’t stop one other person from visiting the rented restaurant during the Games – he just wasn’t able to enter through the front door.

The fact that COC officials weren’t aware that their facility wasn’t wheelchair-accessible surprised Sullivan. Why wouldn’t he be surprised? He is the most recognizable Canadian in a wheelchair since Rick Hansen!

Sullivan said Canada has an enviable record of celebrating diversity and people with disabilities, and called this oversight troubling.

Uh-oh! Someone is Suing the MCT!

Yep.  Sandra McQueen has filed a lawsuit on Aug. 14^th, alleging that she was injured while attempting to board an MCT bus.

According to McQueen, the bus driver extended a ramp for her to board that failed to be close enough to the curb and was lowered at an angle that was unsafe. She also noted that MCT failed to abide by its own rules and guidelines and failed to assist a wheelchair bound individual.

McQueen ended up suffering from injuries to her head, neck, right arm, legs and ankles after tipping backwards when trying to board the ramp. This has caused more medical expenses and also prevents her from doing her daily activities before the accident.

She is seeking a judgment in excess of $15,000, but less than $50,000, plus costs.

Looks like the MCT needs to be a bit more careful!

Beijing Prepares for the Paralympics

The 2008 Paralympics are only a few days away and athletes from all over the world are getting ready for this excellent competition. For most of the athletes the Paralympics represent much more than a sporting competition. It is often more about show support for their fellow competitors and meeting people from all corners of the globe that share a similar background, but of course they take the competition very seriously as well. The athletes are not the only ones preparing for the Paralympics though, because all around Beijing, Chinese workers are struggling to make the city more handicapped accessible.

Beijing is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China and is the second largest city in China. The rich history of Beijing dates back many thousands of years and Homo erectus fossils, which are an extinct relative of the human, that is have been found in the city that are over 230,000 years old. There are many ancient temples and structures all throughout the city and its culture is rich with history. It comes as no surprise though that many of the areas are not wheelchair accessible, but the Chinese Government is trying to fix this problem before the beginning of the Paralympics, which begin on the 6th of September.

One of the biggest steps that they have taken is to replace all of their subway cars that are used downtown with handicapped accessible models. Over 250 handicapped accessible cars were added to the system and in addition to having wheelchair lifts, are also better ventilated and have upgraded climate control systems. They have also introduced more than 2,500 handicapped accessible buses and will have almost 4,000 handicapped accessible busses available during the Paralympics.

The city is also upgrading more than 1,000 different public facilities to be accessible to those in wheelchairs and many of the cities hotels are already accessible.

One of the largest obstacles to people in wheelchairs is the stairs and the city of Beijing is filled with them, which comes as no surprise given the age of the city, but makes many areas inaccessible. Also only around half of Beijing hospitals are handicapped accessible.

As the cities employees struggle to get the city ready for next months games, they have many areas that need attention. Hopefully they will continue this trend after the games and continue to make the beautiful city of Beijing accessible to everyone.

The Many Benefits of Wheelchair Sports

Wheelchair sports are today more popular than ever. People all over the world meet to compete in a friendly and nurturing environment. These sports greatly benefit both the physical well being of the athletes as well as their mental well being.  As we prepare for the Paralympics, which are set to begin next month in Beijing, we take a moment to look at two athletes who have overcome their limitations and have found great joy in wheelchair sports.

Motorcycle racing is a sport that is very popular, as is motorcycle riding, but it can also be very dangerous. Mark Greenley, a 49 year old from New Memphis, Illinois, spent most of his early life racing motorcycles.

Greenley began racing motorcycles at age 14 and during a 3 year stretch beginning in 1989, he raced professionally. In 1991 while practicing before a race, Greenley had an accident, which left him paralyzed.

Realizing that he needed to stay active in order to stay fit, Greenley began wheelchair racing only eight months after his injury. Since then he has one several large races including winning the 10K world championship in 2000 and 2001.

Greenley is not the only ex-professional motorcycle racer to find his place in wheelchair racing. Neil Hayden, a 38 year old from Millstadt, Illinois, shares a similar story. Hayden began racing motorcycles when he was 20 years old and also had an accident when practicing. In May of 1992, Hayden slid into a stand of trees and broke his neck.

Hayden’s doctor suggested that he try wheelchair sports. He began playing wheelchair rugby in 1994 and by 1995 Hayden was also doing wheelchair racing. Hayden found that not only did the sports keep him health and in shape, but they also made him feel good and he was able to meet people from all over the world.

Now Hayden and Greenley both practice together and agree that wheelchair sports have helped them both mentally and psychologically.

They are ranked 5th and 6th in the world in the 100, 200, 400, and 800 meter track class.

Source

The 2008 Paralympics

As all of the world’s eyes turn toward Beijing for the Start of the 2008 Olympics, many very talented athletes from countries across the globe are preparing for competition. As these athletes make their way to China, another group is also getting ready for battle. The 2008 Paralympics are being held in Beijing next month and will give the opportunity for many people to compete in a very positive environment.

The first organized sporting event for people who are mobility challenged was held in 1948 and organized by a German neurologist named Ludwig Guttmann. Four years later in 1948, athletes from the Netherlands joined and by 1960 the games were held in a manner similar to the Olympics. The popularity of the event continued to grow and for the last twenty years, the Summer Paralympics have been hosted in the same city and at the same time as the Olympic Games.

The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games is going to begin on the sixth of September and will end on the seventeenth. This is the 13^th Paralympics games to be held. 145 countries are expected to attending, with around 4,000 athletes participating in the sporting events. If all of the countries and athletes show up, this will be the largest Paralympics turnout in history.

This year there are twenty different sporting events. These events include archery, cycling, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, swimming, sailing, power lifting, and several other events.

The games are held and administered in a manner similar to the Olympic Games, but there are some differences. One difference is in the way the athletes are classified. The athletes are classified into groups based on the level of disability. The classification process continues as the athletes compete and are defined differently for each sport. For instance in order to compete in the Judo events, the participants must be classified as B!, B2, or B3. The B1 athlete may have a slight perception of light, but must lack the ability to recognize forms and shapes at any distance. Athletes in the B2 category, can recognize shapes and forms, but can not exceed 2/60 vision acuity. B3 Athletes can have a visual acuity of between 2/60 and 6/60. They may also have a visual field of between 5 and 20 degrees.

This years Paralympics should be very exciting. Stay tuned this month as we bring you more news about the games.

Wheelchair Tennis

Wheelchair Sports first became popular after the Second World War. Due to advances in medical technology, many soldiers survived the war with wounds that would have otherwise been fatal. These soldiers looking for ways to stay active turned to wheelchair bowling and wheelchair basketball to stay active.

Wheelchair tennis has been played since the early 1970’s and its creation is largely credited to a young athlete that injured himself during a skiing accident. The athlete, named Brad Parks, saw an article about another athlete, Jeff Minnenbraker, who had created his own wheelchair to play tennis in.

Parks played a few matches on his own and shortly after this, while at the hospital for a check up, he got the chance to meet Jeff Minnenbraker. The two worked together to design a suitable wheelchair for Parks and the two began touring the West Coast playing exhibition matches.

The rules of wheelchair tennis are very similar with the rules of traditional tennis, but there are several differences. The biggest difference is that the ball is allowed to bounce twice in wheelchair tennis. While there are some other minor differences, the rest of the rules are the same and a standard full sized tennis court with regulation height net is used.

Today Wheelchair Tennis is extremely popular and there are annual wheelchair tennis competitions held across the world.