CHINA: PARALYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - 'Greatest ever' Paralympic Games close with spectacular fireworks

Record ID: 449773

  • Title: CHINA: PARALYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - 'Greatest ever' Paralympic Games close with spectacular fireworks
  • Date: 18th September 2008
  • Summary: FIREWORKS SHOOTING FROM ROOF OF BIRD'S NEST PARALYMPIC FLAME BURNING ON ROOF OF BIRD'S NEST BIRD'S NEST WITH VEHICLES PASSING IN FRONT FLAME EXTINGUISHING ON ROOF OF BIRD'S NEST VARIOUS OF FIREWORKS EXPLODING ABOVE BIRD'S NEST
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA6R6S58FMR8XF0YI442NHOH64U
  • Story Text: Beijing brought down the curtain on a summer of sporting excellence with a fourth spectacular ceremony in six weeks at the Bird's Nest stadium to close the Paralympics on Wednesday (September 17).
    Tens of thousands of spectators poured into the iconic structure to watch the hour and a half ceremony, which marked the end of China's 2008 Games and handed the Paralympic flame over to London for 2012.
    In a sumptuous pageant, again produced by film director Zhang Yimou, 2,000 dancers in brilliantly colourful costumes dazzled the 91,000 crowd with a performance on the theme of "a letter to the future" to bid farewell to the 4,000 Paralympians.
    For those lucky enough to get their hands on a ticket, it was also a chance to bid a final farewell to the 2008 Beijing Games, which have dominated Chinese media, politics and public life in recent months and years.
    With dramatic infrastructure improvements and a host of spectacular stadiums, the Beijing Games seem set to leave a significant legacy, though Olympic sites have often become burdens on other capitals following the Games.
    Kong Yan, a 26-year-old working in Beijing for Chinese petroleum giant Sinopec, said that the stadiums and other facilities must not go to waste.

    "I think the government has to open everything up and make them accessible for everyone. That way it won't be a waste after the Games and everyone can actually use them. We should be able to appreciate such great facilities," said Kong Yan.
    The total cost of the Beijing Games, which analysts estimated at around $40 billion has dwarfed the previous record of $15 billion paid by Athens in 2004.
    But as well as tangible improvements, wheelchair-bound faculty representative Liu Tiezhong said holding a successful Olympics and Paralympics has also boosted normal Chinese people's confidence in their country.

    "Both the Paralympics and the Olympics have made the Chinese people very proud. For the whole country, no matter whether it's the Games for people with disabilities or not, it has been a great encouragement," said Liu.
    Li Qing, a mother working in engineering, and her daughter Qi Yinong, agreed.

    "I really do feel that Chinese people's confidence has improved," said Li Qing
    "That's what I said," said Qi Yinong.

    "OK, that's what you said," said Li Qing.
    In China the disabled have often been stigmatised and suffered from a lack of facilities, but Beijing organisers have said the success of the Games would be a major Paralympic legacy.
    International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Philip Craven praised Beijing's Paralympics as the 'greatest Paralympics ever' during his speech at the closing ceremony, marking another diplomatic triumph for China's authorities.
    As the Paralympic flame was extinguished and the fireworks lit, the Chinese Paralympic team also had cause for celebration.
    China, as they did at the Olympics and at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, topped the medals table with 89 golds and 211 total medals in a display of dominance that saw them more than double the haul of second-placed Britain on both counts.
    Britain, who host the next Games in London in 2012, finished second with 42 golds, the U.S. third with 36 while Ukraine (24) piped Australia (23) to fourth place.
    Blue skies and good weather in the main presided over the 12-day event, but the traffic restrictions and factory closures that have kept Beijing's notorious pollution at bay for the last two months come to an end on Saturday.
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