2008 Summer Paralympics

De **2008 Summer Paralympic Games** (Chinese: 2008年夏季残疾人奥林匹克运动会; pinyin: *2008 Nián Xiàjì Cánjí Rén Àolínpǐkè Yùndònghuì*), de 13th Summer Paralympic Games, take place insyd Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As plus de 2008 Summer Olympics, na dem hold equestrian events insyd Hong Kong den sailing events insyd Qingdao. Na ebe de first time de fresh Paralympic logo feature insyd de Summer Paralympics since ein rebranding after de 2004 Summer Paralympics.

3,951 athletes wey komot 146 countries take part, de largest number of nations ever (ten more dan de 2004 Games insyd Athens). Five countries compete for de first time. As host country, China field more athletes dan any oda country. Na de slogan for de 2008 Paralympics be de same as de 2008 Summer Olympics, "One World, One Dream" (simplified Chinese: 同一个世界 同一个梦想; traditional Chinese: 同一個世界 同一個夢想 Pinyin *Tóng yīge shìjìe tóng yīge mèngxiǎng*, lit. "One World, One Dream"). China dominate de medal count, dem fini plus 89 gold medals den 211 total medals, more dan double de next-ranked NPC insyd both cases. Na dem break 339 Paralympic records den 279 world records. International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Presido Philip Craven declare de Games "the greatest Paralympic Games ever."

Na dem select Beijing make e host de 2022 Winter Paralympics, wey make am de first city make e host both Summer den Winter Games.

## Venues

Na dem select nineteen competition venue —seventeen insyd Beijing, one insyd Hong Kong, den one insyd Qingdao.

# Beijing National Stadium (*Bird Nest*) - Athletics, Opening den closing ceremonies.
# Beijing National Aquatics Center (*Water Cube*) - Swimming.
# Beijing National Indoor Stadium (*Fan*) - Wheelchair basketball.
# Fencing Gymnasium of Olympic Green Convention Centre - Boccia, Wheelchair fencing.
# Olympic Green Archery Field - Archery.
# Olympic Green Hockey Field - Football 5-a-side, Football 7-a-side.
# Olympic Green Tennis Centre (*Flowers*) - Wheelchair tennis.
# Peking University Gymnasium - Table tennis.
# Beihang University Gymnasium - Powerlifting.
# China Agricultural University Gymnasium - Sitting volleyball.
# Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium - Wheelchair rugby.
# Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium - Goalball.
# Beijing Shooting Range Hall - Shooting.
# Laoshan Velodrome - Cycling (track).
# Workers Gymnasium - Judo
# Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park - Rowing
# Triathlon Venue - Cycling (road)
# Hong Kong Equestrian Venues - Equestrian
# Qingdao International Sailing Centre - Sailing

## Symbols

### Emblem
Na dem unveil de Games's emblem, "Sky, Earth, and Human Beings" (Chinese: 天、地、人), insyd July 2004, multicolored Chinese character "之" (Chinese: zhī) dem stylize as athletic figure insyd motion.  Ein red, blue den green colors dey represent sun, sky den earth.

### Slogan
Na de slogan be de same as de 2008 Summer Olympics, "One World, One Dream".

### Mascots
Na de mascot be cartoon cow dem name Fu Niu Lele (Chinese: 福牛乐乐), roughly dey mean "Lucky Ox 'Happy'".

### Theme song
Na de theme song be **"Flying with the Dream"** Chinese: 和梦一起飞. Na ebe performed by Chinese-Tibetan singer Han Hong den Hong Kong singer den actor Andy Lau.

## Torch relay

Na de torch relay of de **2008 Summer Paralympics** start from Tian Tan (Temple of Heaven) for August 28. Dem gather de flame before *The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests* (祈年殿) wey dem follow two routes (de "Route of Ancient China" den de "Route of Modern China"). Na dem return both routes to Beijing for September 5, wey na dem flame de torch for de National Stadium during de Opening Ceremony for September 6.

## De Games

### Opening ceremony
De opening ceremony take place for September 6, 2008. Na de pre-ceremony performance be succession of various musical performances, wey dey range from military music to folk music den performance of *Ode to Joy*. Dey follow countdown, fireworks display signal de beginning of de ceremony proper. Na dem then raise de national flag of China, for accordance plus usual protocol, wey dem perform de national anthem of China. Performers dey wear suits insyd bright colours dem parade round de stadium, as welcoming ceremony wey dey precede de athletes dema entry. As plus de 2008 Summer Olympics, de ceremony include parade of nations, plus flag bearer give each national team. Contrary to Olympic tradition, de national team of Greece no enter first, as de Paralympic Games dey trace ein roots to Stoke Mandeville rather dan Olympia; de host country, as be customary insyd both Olympic den Paralympic Games, cam last. As dem wrep Chinese insyd characters wey e no be letters, na de order of de teams dema entry na dem determine by de number of strokes insyd de first character of dema respective countries dema Simplified Chinese names. Dem sort countries plus de same number of strokes insyd de first character by those of de next character. Dis make Guinea (几内亚) de first country make dem enter as e dey take two strokes to wrep de first character insyd de country ein name (几). Dey follow de athletes dema parade, performance take place, dem divide into chapters den sub-chapters dem entitle de "Journey of Space" den "Journey of Life". De **sunbird** performance dem entail Yang Haitao (杨海涛), singer plus visual impairment, dey sing about dreams while acrobat insyd sunbird costume dem descend insyd simulated flight from de air den "awakened the blind singer from his sleep". De ceremony dey conclude plus Hou Bin, de first Chinese paralympian to be three-time champion consecutively insyd de same event, he lift ein self den ein wheelchair up for rope top by strength of arms go de top of Beijing National Stadium, wer he light de cauldron to mark de beginning of de Games.

### Closing ceremony
Na dem hold de 2008 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony for de Beijing National Stadium. E begin for 8:00 pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) for September 17, 2008.

### Sports
Na twenty sports dey for de program top:

*  Archery
*  Athletics
*  Boccia
*  Cycling
*  Equestrian
*  Football 5-a-side
*  Football 7-a-side
*  Goalball
*  Judo
*  Powerlifting
*  Rowing
*  Sailing
*  Shooting
*  Swimming
*  Table tennis
*  Volleyball
*  Wheelchair basketball
*  Wheelchair fencing
*  Wheelchair rugby
*  Wheelchair tennis

Rowing make ein first appearance insyd de Paralympics for dese games.

### Calendar



### NPCs wey dey participate
De National Paralympic Committees wey dey follow send delegations make dem compete. Macau den de Faroe Islands be members of de International Paralympic Committee, buh no be of de International Olympic Committee; hence dem participate insyd de Paralympic Games buh no be insyd de Olympics.

Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti den Montenegro participate insyd de Paralympics for de first time.

Na Botswana be due make dem take part, buh ein single athlete, defending Paralympic champion sprinter Tshotlego Morama, withdraw prior to de Games secof injury. Na dem reject de country ein last-minute attempt make dem field oda athletes insyd ein place, as dem no meet de requirement of dem participate insyd international events.

## Medal count
Dis table dey base for de medal count of de International Paralympic Committee (IPC) top.

Dem dey sort de ranking primarily by de number of gold medals earn by National Paralympic Committee. Dem dey take de number of silver medals into consideration next den then de number of bronze medals. If countries be still tied, dem dey give equal ranking wey dem dey list dem alphabetically by IPC Country Code.

 *   Host nation (Host nation (China))

## International television

* Australia – ABC1 den ABC2.
* Brazil – SporTV2 den Terra Networks.
* Canada – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) insyd English den Société Radio Canada (SRC) insyd French.
* China – Chinese Central Television (CCTV) provide coverage for CCTV-1 top (opening den closing ceremony), CCTV-5 den CCTV-7 as all direct live telecast transmission.
* France – Eurosport
* Japan – NHK's NHK General TV provide coverage for JOAK-1 top
* Azerbaijan – AZTV
* Norway – NRK
* Sweden – Sveriges Television
* Turkey – TRT
* United States – Universal Sports
* United Kingdom – BBC provide coverage for BBC Television's BBC One top.

Insyd France, dey follow de Games, Philippe Juvin, national secretary of de governing Union for Popular Movement, accuse national public television network France Télévisions of dem practice "segregation" by dem dey provide live coverage of de Beijing Olympics buh ten-minute daily summaries of events per, outsyd prime time, for de Beijing Paralympics. France Télévisions reply say e go take Juvin to court for slander.

## References


## External links
Wikimedia Commons get media wey relate to ******.

* Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games Official Site
* International Paralympic Committee
* Paralympic Online Streaming Coverage