| Sports |
All expenses paid for teams to the Beijing Games
By HENRY MORABANG
With the motto of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, “One World
One Dream” the PNG delegation to the One-Year-To-Go celebration
of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the China Millennium
Monument was a dream come true.
PNG Chef de Mission of PNG Paralympic team Dr Kefu Ma and the
PNG Paralympic Committee executive officer, Benedict Hipom
attended the celebration recently in Beijing, China.
The veracity of “One World, One Dream” has certainly come true
for Mr Hipom when he captured a snapshot with the famous movie
star Mr. Jackie Chan, who has become the household name across
the world, and he felt greatly honoured to have had the
opportunity to have taken this photo with him.
Jackie Chan is Friendship Ambassador of the Beijing 2008
Paralympic Games.
The famous movie star of Kung Fu fame provided the zenith at the
closing moments of the One-Year-To-Go celebration of the Beijing
2008 Paralympic Games at the China Millennium Monument in
Beijing, hosted by Mr. Wang Qishan, Mayor of Beijing and
executive President of Beijing Organizing Committee for the
Games of the 29th Olympiad (BOCOG).
PNG will be represented at the Games by two sports, athletics
and power lifting.
Dr Ma and Mr Hipom were among 200 representatives from the
National Paralympic Committees throughout the world were treated
to an amazing array of performances at the ceremony.
At the Seminar, BOCOG officially announced the subsidy to offset
the full international travel expenses for all athletes and team
officials who participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
(8-24 August 2008) and Paralympic Games (6-17 September 2008)
from each guest country to Beijing. Plus free accommodation,
meals, medical care and admission fees. This is the first time
in Olympic history that the host country provides this
assistance to each participating country.
The delegates witnessed the invitation distribution of the
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and the unveiling ceremony of the
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Torch Relay by Mr. Jia Qinglin, member
of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC
Central Committee and Sir Philip Craven, President of the
International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Mr Hipom has expressed his great pleasure with the Chefs de
Mission seminar which was held on 5-7 September 2007 in Beijing,
saying that it brought Papua New Guinea the opportunity to meet
with some of the most distinguished people in the world.
He said the seminar was imperative and very informative with the
preparation for the leading up to the Beijing 2008 Paralympic
Games. The seminar was setup to update the National Paralympic
Committees throughout the world on the latest developments going
on in Beijing, in preparation for the next year’s Games,
especially on the infrastructures and other issues. These
developments are on a very enormous scale; include the cleaning
of the air in and around Beijing City by the entire Chinese
government.
Mr Hipom said that Papua New Guinea carries no doubt about the
success of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the Paralympic
Games. Even delegates from the developed nations were bowled
over at the magnitude of developments and preparations for the
Games.
The two-man delegation from PNG had splendid opportunities to
meet with Sir Philip Craven, President of International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) for a discussion of the development
of disabled sports in PNG, and with David Grevemberg, the IPC
Sports Director regarding PNG’s qualification to the Beijing
2008 Paralympic Games.
Another significant meeting also made at the Seminar was the
opportunity to talk with the Paralympic Sports Coordinator Mr.
Piers Jones, of the London 2012 Organizing Committee for the
Olympic Games (LOCOG), who traveled from the United Kingdom to
launch the awareness for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games.
Mr Hipom said the Chinese government is out to showcase the
concepts of “Transcendence, Integration, Equality” with the
spirit of “One World, One Dream” to the entire world and make
both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games an event to
remember.
There will be 20 sports and disciplines and 472 events on the
program of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. PNG only
participates in 2 sports - athletics and powerlifting.
Mr. Hipom said the challenge now lies ahead and with less than a
year to go to the Games. The PNG Paralympic Committee is now
tasked to qualify its athletes in the next four months for the
biggest sports event in the world. He says the quest to send PNG
disabled athletes to Beijing is a challenge for everyone in
Papua New Guinea and urges the Government and business houses to
help and support the PNG Paralympic Committee in everyway they
can. Interested individuals and companies can help in the
development and achievements of our Paralympians (disabled
athletes) during the next 11 months by pledging financial
support and can get in touch with Dr. Kefu Ma at the Ma Clinic
in Port Moresby on telephone 323 0388 for the arrangement.
 
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