CHINA: PARALYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - Paralympic torch relay kicks off with dramatic lighting ceremony

Record ID: 449777

  • Title: CHINA: PARALYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - Paralympic torch relay kicks off with dramatic lighting ceremony
  • Date: 29th August 2008
  • Summary: PERFORMERS FROM CHINA DISABLED PEOPLE'S PERFORMING ART TROUPE WATCHING PERFORMANCE
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA5SI1NX0U7L28GSPIUFYEL4ALS
  • Story Text: The Beijing Paralympic Games torch relay kicks off with a dramatic lighting ceremony beneith the city's magnificent Temple of Heaven.
    Four days after closing the 2008 Beijing Games in triumph, China lit the 2008 Paralympic torch on Thursday (August 28) at Beijing's ancient Temple of Heaven, marking the start of a domestic relay for the Games which start on August 6.
    Dozens of singers and dancers waving different national and Paralympic flags filled the steps surrounding the near 600-year-old Prayer Hall for Good Harvests, an annual place of worship for past Chinese emperors.
    The ceremony was attended by the presidents of both Chinese and International Paralympic Committees as well as Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and Deng Pufang, wheelchair-bound president of the China Disabled Persons' Federation and son of former Chairman Deng Xiaoping.
    Sir Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), said the Paralympic torch relay represented more than just sport.

    "This flame will symbolise over the next ten days the unique sporting spirit portrayed by Paralympic athletes, when they compete and when they lead their daily lives. This spirit overcomes many obstacles in the search of sporting excellence," said Sir Philip.
    The sun broke through the haze, which had made an unwelcome return after the Olympics ended on Sunday (August 24), just in time to light a wick with a concave mirror, drawing applause from the selected audience.
    The flame was then passed to Jin Jing, a 27-year-old amputee and Paralympic fencer whose fierce defence of the Olympic torch during the Paris leg of the troubled global relay has made her a Chinese national heroine.
    Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) then ignited the torch, and passed it to Premier Wen Jiabao, who lit the Olympic cauldron and announced the commencement of the relay.
    The flame will travel on Friday (Aug 29) to the ancient capital Xian and pass through nine other Chinese cities, but will not leave China.
    China, whose Beijing Olympic torch relay was dogged by protest overseas, announced in June that it had cancelled the international leg of the Paralympic relay, giving the devastating Sichuan earthquake as the reason.
    The torch had originally been scheduled to visit Olympic host cities of London, Vancouver and Sochi as well as Hong Kong.
    The Olympic torch relay became the focus of protest against China's crackdown on rioting in Tibet on its journey around the world, though the Olympic Games themselves were widely held as a huge success and were trouble free, aside from a few tiny protests by pro-free Tibet groups.
    Jiang Xintian, the deaf performer who lit the initial flame, joined the organisers' in their hope for "Two Games, equal splendour."
    "For the 2008 Paralympic torch lighting ceremony to take place at the Temple of Heaven today, whether it is the Olympics for disabled or non-disabled people, it is a once-in-one-hundred-years dream for both the people of China and the rest of the world," said Jiang Xintian.
    Lu Shiming, vice chairman of the China Paralympic Committee, said the Paralympics would help to improve conditions for China's disabled.
    "I think meeting the needs of disabled people in society ultimately depends on society itself. So to hold a completely successful Paralympic Games will encourage a wider understanding and knowledge of disabled people. And this will very likely lead to improvement and development in the fulfilment of these needs," said Lu.
    The Paralympic Games will be held in Beijing from Sept. 6-17.
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