Athletes and accredited officials will be offered free
international travel and accommodation at the 2008 Paralympic Games
in Beijing, organizers said on Friday.
"The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) will cover the
international travel expenses of all the athletes and accredited
officials at the 2008 Paralympics, and provide them with free
accommodation in Beijing as well," Zhang Qiuping, director of BOCOG
's Paralympic Games Department, told a press conference.
"It will be the first time that the participants of the
Paralympic Games enjoy equal treatment as their counterparts of the
Olympic Games," he added.
Since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, it has become an
established practice that the organizing committee offer free
international air tickets and games-time accommodation to all
athletes and accredited delegates. According to an agreement signed
between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2001, it will also be applied to the
Paralympic Games as of the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.
"BOCOG is actually the first organizing committee that runs both
the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games," said Zhang.
The 2008 Paralympic Games will be held from September 6 to 17,
2008, 12 days after the Olympic Games has concluded. The 2008
Paralympics will use the same venues as the Olympic Games, said
Zhang.
Some 4,000 athletes and 2,500 officials from about 150 countries
and regions are expected to take part in the 2008 Paralympics.
(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2006)