22-07-2008

Paralympic Games Beijing 2008

Photo: CTKPhoto: CTK The Paralympics began 13 days after the close of the Olympic games in Beijing. Over 11 days, physically disabled athletes from 148 countries around the world are competing for medals in 471 categories spanning 20 disciplines. For the first time ever the number taking part exceeds 4,000.

Fifty-six athletes are representing the Czech Republic at the Paralympics.

Links:

Official website of the Beijing Paralympics
en.beijing2008.cn

Official website of the Czech Paralympic Committee
www.paralympic.cz

Chinese Radio's international service
english.cri.cn

Czech medals:

David Drahonínský: gold in archery, Individual Compound W1

Rostislav Pohlman: bronze in discus, F57/58 category

Martin Zvolánek: bronze in discus, F32/51category

Eva Berná: bronze in shot put, F37/38 category

Roman Musil: bronze in shot put F33/34/52 category

Jan Povýšil: swimming bronze in 100 m crawl, S4 category, swimming bronze in 200 m crawl, S4 category

Eva Kacanu: gold in the F54-56 category shot put, set new world record with throw of 6.73 m

Jiří Ježek: gold in cycling individual pursuit, LC 2 category, gold in 24.8 km road time trial, bronze in team sprint

Běla Hlaváčková: swimming gold in 50 m back-stroke, bronze in 100 m crawl

Jana Fesslová: bronze in F54-56 category discus catégories F54-56

Jiří Bouška: silver in 1 km time-trial track cycling event

Tomáš Kvasnička:bronze in 1 km time-trial track cycling event, CP3 category, bronze in team sprint, bronze in road race





Olympic Games Beijing 2008

Motto: „One World, One Dream“

The XXIX Olympiad is taking place in the Chinese capital Beijing from August 8 to 24. The city was awarded the Olympic Games in July 2001 at an International Olympic Committee in Moscow, beating off competition from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. The main centre of the games is the Beijing National Stadium.

Photo: en.beijing2008.cnPhoto: en.beijing2008.cn Photo: en.beijing2008.cnPhoto: en.beijing2008.cn

Photo-gallery of other Olympic venues

 

Interesting Facts

New disciplines at this year's Olympics include BMX and marathon swimming.

The IIAF granted permission to Oscar Pistorius to take part in the games. However, the athlete, who has artificial lower legs, failed to qualify.


Links

Official website of the Beijing Olympics
en.beijing2008.cn

Official website of the Czech Olympic Committee
www.olympic.cz

Chinese Radio's international service
english.cri.cn

 

Protests against the Olympic Games in China

There have been a number of protests around the world at the fact the Olympics are being held in China, due to the country's human rights record. This year's Olympic torch relay met with demonstrations in several cities, prompting previously unseen levels of security. China strongly condemned what it called criminal attacks on the relay. No Czech government officials are attending the opening ceremony of the XXIX Olympiad. However, the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, will spend some days in Beijing supporting Czech athletes.

Czech athletes in Beijing

You can find a complete list of Czech athletes who have qualified for the 2008 Olympics

 

Symbols of the 2008 Olympic Games

Medaile

Each of the Olympic Medals is inlaid with jade, which in China is a symbol of beauty, strength, nobility, virtue and immortality. On their obverse side, the medals adopt the standard design prescribed by the International Olympic Committee - a drawing that represents the winged goddess of victory Nike and Panathinaikos Arena, while on their reverse side, the medals are inlaid with jade with the Beijing Games emblem engraved in the metal centerpiece. The bronze medals are inlaid with black jade, the silver medals with green stones and the gold medals with the precious white variety, which is sometimes described as “moonlight captured in stone”.

Photo: en.beijing2008.cn Photo: en.beijing2008.cn

The Olympic Torch

The torch, made of aluminum resembles a paper scroll and the graphic used expresses harmony as well as the Eastern philosophy of the five elements of creation: air, water, earth, fire and metal. The torch was designed to withstand winds of up to 65 kilometers per hour and to stay alight in rain up to 50mm an hour.

The Olympic Mascots

Like the Five Olympic Rings, there are five mascots - Fuwa. They represent four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Antelope, the Swallow - and the Olympic Flame. Each of them has a rhyming two-syllable name - a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow. When you put their names together - Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni - they say "Welcome to Beijing". They also embody the Chinese landscape and convey the message of a Green Olympics.