1.
List of IOC country codes
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The International Olympic Committee uses three-letter abbreviation country codes to refer to each group of athletes that participate in the Olympic Games. Several of the IOC codes are different from the standard ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes, other sporting organisations, such as FIFA, use similar country codes to refer to their respective teams, but with some differences. Still others, such as the Commonwealth Games Federation or Association of Tennis Professionals, the 1956 Winter Olympics and 1960 Summer Olympics were the first Games to feature Initials of Nations to refer to each NOC in the published official reports. However, the used at the next few Games were often based on the host nations language or based on the French name for the nation. By the 1972 Winter Olympics, most codes were standardized on the current usage, there are 206 current NOCs within the Olympic Movement. The following tables show the currently used code for each NOC and any different codes used in past Games, some of the past code usage is further explained in the following sections. Codes used specifically for a Summer Games only or a Winter Games only, fourteen historical NOCs or teams have codes that are still used in the IOC results database to refer to past medal winners from these teams. IRN was changed to IRI for Iran for the 1992 Games, ANZ is now used in the IOCs medal database to identify the team from Australasia, composed of athletes from both Australia and New Zealand for the 1908 and 1912 Games. By 1920, both nations competed separately, EUA is now used in the IOCs medal database to identify the United Team of Germany, composed of athletes representing the NOCs of both East Germany and West Germany for the 1956–1964 Games. At the time, the team was known as Germany in the official reports for those six Games. EUN was used in 1992 for the Unified Team, composed of athletes from most of the ex-republics of the Soviet Union. Only the Baltic states were able to compete as independent teams in 1992, IOP was used for Independent Olympic Participants at the 1992 Summer Olympics as a designation used for athletes from FR Yugoslavia who could not compete as a team due to United Nations sanctions. At the 1992 Summer Olympics IOP was used as a designation for athletes from the Republic of Macedonia too, IOP was also used during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi by Indian athletes due to the Indian Olympic Association suspension. IOA was used for Individual Olympic Athletes in 2000, a used for athletes from Timor-Leste prior to the formation of its NOC. IOA was used again in the 2012 Games, when it stood for Independent Olympic Athletes, comprising athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles, the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committees membership from the IOC was withdrawn the previous year, and South Sudan has not formed an NOC. IOA was used again in 2016 for athletes from Kuwait as a result of the suspension of its National Olympic Committee, IOC was used as the country code for Athletes from Kuwait at the 2010 Asian Games, as the Kuwait Olympic Committee was suspended. MIX is used as the code for Mixed NOCs at the Youth Olympics. ROT was the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics for athletes to compete who have displaced from their home countries
2.
National Paralympic Committee
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A National Paralympic Committee is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee, NPCs are responsible for organizing their peoples participation in the Paralympic Games, there are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their respective Olympic Games, in the same host city. As of 2012, there are 174 NPC members of the IPC, only NPCs in good standing may enter athletes in the Paralympic Games. Within countries, some NPCs serve as the governing body for one or more sports
3.
Beijing
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Beijing is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China and the worlds third most populous city proper. It is also one of the worlds most populous capital cities, the city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai and is the nations political, cultural. It is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas largest state-owned companies, and is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway. The citys history dates back three millennia, as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D, the city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have made it centre of culture, encyclopædia Britannica notes that few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. Siheyuans, the traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, many of Beijings 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. Beijings Zhongguancun area is known as Chinas Silicon Valley and Chinas center of innovation. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory Personal Finance Index, expats live primarily in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang in the east, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had other names. The name Beijing, which means Northern Capital, was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing, the English spelling is based on the pinyin romanisation of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ, the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, the first walled city in Beijing was Ji, a city from the 11th to 7th century BC
4.
2008 Summer Paralympics medal table
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The medal table of the 2008 Summer Paralympics ranks the participating National Paralympic Committees by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the competition. The 2008 Paralympics was the thirteenth Games to be held, a competition open to athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities. The games were held in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China, some 3,951 athletes from 146 NPCs participated in 472 events in 20 sports, with Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti and Montenegro making their Paralympic debuts. This set new records for both the number of NPCs competing and the number of athletes overall, athletes from a record 76 NPCs won medals, leaving 70 NPCs without a medal. Athletes from Croatia, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Venezuela won their first ever gold medals, Host China topped the medal table with 211 medals in total, including 89 gold medals, while Great Britain placed second with 102 medals, including 42 golds. Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, S9 swimmers Natalie du Toit and Matthew Cowdrey, from South Africa and Australia respectively, brazilian S5 swimmer Daniel Dias won the most individual medals overall, a total of nine medals, comprising four golds, four silvers and a bronze. The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Paralympic Committee and is consistent with IPC convention in its published medal tables, by default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won. The number of medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC country code. In both the womens 400, freestyle S13 and the mens 100m butterfly S11, two medals were awarded each as two swimmers set the same time in third place. Key * Host NPC On 14 September 2008, Rebecca Chin was stripped of the medal she had won in the F37-38 discus competition. The IPC overruled a change in her classification made earlier in the month,2008 Summer Olympics medal table International Paralympic Committee Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games
5.
Rwanda at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
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Rwanda competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. Dominique Bizimana served as the President of the National Paralympic Committee of Rwanda in 2012, the delegation stayed at Cavesson House in the Paralympic Village. Mens track and road events Men The team was the first from Sub-Saharan Africa to participate at the Paralympic Games, many members of the team went to London having survived or having had family who survived the Rwandan genocide. Two member of the squad lost limbs fighting against those who committed the 1992 genocide. One of those members who lost a leg was Dominique Bizimana. Roster The following is the Rwandan roster in the volleyball tournament of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. ‹See Tfd› Group play 9th/10th place classification Rwanda at the 2012 Summer Olympics
6.
Rwanda
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Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a sovereign state in central and east Africa and one of the smallest countries on the African mainland. Located a few south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi. Rwanda is in the African Great Lakes region and is elevated, its geography is dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two seasons and two dry seasons each year. The population is young and predominantly rural, with a density among the highest in Africa, Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda, although within this group there are three subgroups, the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. The Twa are a pygmy people descended from Rwandas earliest inhabitants. Christianity is the largest religion in the country, the language is Kinyarwanda, spoken by most Rwandans, with English. Rwanda has a system of government. The president is Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, who took office in 2000, Rwanda today has low corruption compared with neighbouring countries, although human rights organisations report suppression of opposition groups, intimidation and restrictions on freedom of speech. The country has been governed by an administrative hierarchy since pre-colonial times. Rwanda is one of two countries with a female majority in the national parliament. Hunter gatherers settled the territory in the stone and iron ages, the population coalesced first into clans and then into kingdoms. The Kingdom of Rwanda dominated from the century, with the Tutsi kings conquering others militarily, centralising power. Germany colonised Rwanda in 1884 as part of German East Africa, followed by Belgium, both European nations ruled through the kings and perpetuated a pro-Tutsi policy. The Hutu population revolted in 1959 and they massacred numerous Tutsi and ultimately established an independent, Hutu-dominated state in 1962. The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a war in 1990. Social tensions erupted in the 1994 genocide, in which Hutu extremists killed an estimated 500,000 to 1.3 million Tutsi, the RPF ended the genocide with a military victory. Rwandas economy suffered heavily during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, but has since strengthened, the economy is based mostly on subsistence agriculture
7.
2008 Summer Paralympics
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The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17,2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao,3,951 athletes from 146 countries took part. This was the largest ever number of nations at the Paralympics, China fielded more athletes than any other country. The slogan for the 2008 Paralympics was the same as the 2008 Summer Olympics, One World, China dominated the medal count finishing with 89 gold medals and 211 total medals, more than double the next-ranked NPC in both cases. 339 Paralympic records and 279 world records were broken, international Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven declared the Games the greatest Paralympic Games ever. Nineteen competition venues—seventeen in Beijing, one in Hong Kong, the red, blue, and green in the emblem represent sun, sky, and earth. The slogan was the same as the 2008 Summer Olympics, One World, the mascot was a cartoon cow named Fu Niu Lele, roughly meaning Lucky Ox Happy. The theme song was Flying with the Dream Chinese, 和梦一起飞 and it was performed by Chinese-Tibetan singer Han Hong and Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Lau. The torch relay of the 2008 Summer Paralympics started from Tian Tan on August 28, the flame then gathered before The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and followed two routes. Both routes returned to Beijing on September 5, and the torch was flamed at the National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony on September 6, the opening ceremony took place on September 6,2008. The pre-ceremony performance was a succession of musical performances, ranging from military music to folk music. Following a countdown, a fireworks display signalled the beginning of the ceremony proper, the national flag of China was then raised, in accordance with usual protocol, and the national anthem of China performed. Performers wearing suits in bright colours paraded round the stadium, as a ceremony preceding the athletes entry. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, the ceremony included a parade of nations, countries with the same number of strokes in the first character are sorted by those of the next character. This made Guinea the first country to enter as it takes two strokes to write the first character in the countrys name, the ceremony concludes with Hou Bin, the high jump gold medalist with one leg lighting the flame cauldron. The 2008 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium and it began at 8,00 pm China Standard Time on September 17,2008. Twenty sports were on the program, Rowing made its first appearance in the Paralympics at these games, the following National Paralympic Committees sent delegations to compete. Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti and Montenegro were participating in the Paralympics for the first time, botswana was due to take part, but its single athlete, defending Paralympic champion sprinter Tshotlego Morama, withdrew prior to the Games due to injury
8.
2004 Summer Paralympics
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3,806 athletes from 136 National Paralympic Committees competed. 519 medal events were held in 19 sports, four new events were introduced to the Paralympics in Athens, 5-a-side football for the blind, quads wheelchair tennis, and a womens competition in sitting volleyball and in the judo. A total of 1567 medals were awarded during the Athens games,519 gold,516 silver, china topped the medal count with more gold medals, more silver medals, and more medals overall than any other nation. In the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of medals earned by a nation. Chantal Petitclerc of Canada won five golds and set three records in wheelchair racing, while Swedish shooter Jonas Jacobsson took four gold medals. Frances Béatrice Hess won her nineteenth and twentieth Paralympic gold medals in swimming, swimmer Trischa Zorn of the United States won just one medal, a bronze, but it was her 55th ever Paralympic medal. She retained her position as the most successful Paralympian of all times, the opening ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on September 17,2004. The show started with children passing on knowledge and raising their lights to the sky and this was a reference to Hippocrates, who transferred knowledge to the children. A26 meters tall olive tree symbolising life stood in the middle of the arena, the opening ceremony also featured a performance with human drama, with light and with music, in an allegory about obstacles and limits. The Parade of Delegations was accompanied by the music of French composers Yves Stepping, the music told the legend of Hephaestos, god of fire and son of Zeus and Hera. An athlete from Turkmenistan propelled himself around the stadium by doing somersaults, Greece, the home team, received a strong cheer. After that, fireworks erupted at the stadium, there were 150 local support staff involved and 400 volunteers. The children were from ages 8 to 17, coming from Australia, France, Spain, Greece, the Games were officially declared opened by Greek president Costis Stephanopoulos and Philip Craven, the president of the International Paralympic Committee. They were accompanied by the head of the organizing committee Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who told the athletes, many of you will leave Athens with medals, but all of you will leave as champions. Phil Craven quoted Democritus in his speech, Two thousand years ago and this holds true for all athletes, but especially for Paralympians. Recognising and cultivating your unique abilities and mastering challenges – you set standards and give expression for people, young and old. The Paralympic flame was lit by Greek athlete Georgios Toptsis, the closing ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on September 28,2004. The artistic and entertainment part of the ceremony will not take place, flags were flown at half mast and a minutes silence was observed
9.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
10.
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Athletics at the 2008 Summer Paralympics were held in Beijing National Stadium from September 8 to September 17. There were 160 gold medals in this sport, athletes are given a classification depending on the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allows athletes to compete against others with a level of function. For each of the events below, medals are contested for one or more of the above classifications, there were 1035 athletes taking part in the athletics competitions. This ranking sorts countries by the number of medals earned by their athletes. The number of medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries are tied, equal ranking is given. *David Weir was initially awarded the medal in the mens 800 m T54. † Diane Roy was initially awarded the gold, Shelly Woods the silver, the re-run race resulted in the same three athletes winning medals but in a different order. †† Rebecca Chin of Great Britain was originally awarded the medal in the womens discus throw F37-38 event. Following a challenge to her classification, Chin was deemed ineligible for the event, stripped of her medal, Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics Schedules and Results - Athletics. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Official site of the 2008 Summer Paralympics
11.
Rwanda at the Paralympics
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Rwanda made its Paralympic Games début at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. It was represented by a competitor, male swimmer Cesar Rwagasana. In 2004, Rwanda sent two runners, Olive Akobasenga and Jean de Dieu Nkundabera, Nkundabera won bronze in mens 800m race. He was the sole representative in 2008, entering the same event. Rwanda has never participated in the Winter Paralympics
12.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
13.
Benin at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Benin sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. They were represented by one athlete, powerlifter Blandine Sahenou, Benin participated in the 2008 Summer Paralympics, their third consecutive Games they participated in since making their debut at the 2000 Games. The country did not earn a medal in Beijing, Benin was represented in Beijing by a powerlifter, their second consecutive time that they participated in the sport at the Paralympics. Blandine Sahenou was the countrys powerlifter in Beijing, women Benin at the Paralympics Benin at the 2008 Summer Olympics International Paralympic Committee
14.
Egypt at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Egypt sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. The 38 member strong team won 12 medals,4 gold,4 silver and 4 bronze, sports Egypt participated in included athletics, powerlifting and table tennis. The organization previously governing Paralympic sport in Egypt changed, being replaced by the Egyptian Paralympic Committee in 2006 and this was two years before the start of the Beijing Games. Approximately 38 Egyptian athletes were expected to take part, Egypt won 12 totals medals in Beijing,4 gold,4 silver and 4 bronze. In contrast, the countrys 2008 Olympic team won a bronze medal. Paralympians were held up as allowing the country to face because of the excellence of their performance. This despite a typical portrayal of people with disabilities as street beggars. Egypt sent a number of competitors to Beijing including Mohammed Beshta, Mahmoud El-Attar, Hossam Abdel Kader. Sherif Othman won gold in powerlifting for Egypt, fatma Omar competed at and became a three-time Paralympic gold medalist in Beijing. Metwalli Mathana appeared in his fourth Paralympic Games, Egypt finished the Beijing Games with 4 gold,3 silver and 4 bronze medals in powerlifting. Historically, Egyptian powerlifters have faced a number of barriers despite their obvious success at the Paralympic Games, because of the low numbers of practitioners, there is a lack of awareness among parents of children with disabilities about the potential to get involved with powerlifting. These low numbers of practitioners also make the sport cost more and it is also hard for Egyptians to go abroad, and to bring foreign lifers to Egypt to assist Egyptians in training. Fayza Hafez was Egypts representative at the 2008 Games in table tennis, Egypt at the Paralympics Egypt at the 2008 Summer Olympics International Paralympic Committee
15.
Gabon at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Gabon sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China. It was Gabons first participation in the Paralympic Games, the country was represented solely by wheelchair athlete Thierry Mabicka, in track and field. Mabicka entered two events, the 800m race, and the javelin, in the former, he was disqualified, apparently for attempting to race others with a non-racing wheelchair. In the latter, he finished last of fourteen, his throw of 11. 72m earning him 302 points, Gabon at the Paralympics Gabon at the 2008 Summer Olympics International Paralympic Committee
16.
Kenya at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Kenya competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The countrys delegation consisted of thirteen competitors captained by three-time Paralympic gold medalist Henry Wanyoike, also on the team was javelin thrower Mary Nakhumicha. Wanyoike competed in the 5000 metres,10000 metres, and the marathon, Kenya sent a thirteen strong team to Beijing, including ten men and three women. The Kenyan team included three-time Paralympic gold medalist Henry Wanyoike, javelin thrower Mary Nakhumicha and athletics competitors Henry Kirwa and it also included Wilson Bii, Erick Sang, Nancy Chelagat, and Henry Sugi. A number of factors have impacted the development of disability sport in Kenya in this period. One factor was negative cultural attitudes towards people with disabilities in general that made it difficult to participate, a second variable was coaching issues. A third issue was lack of equipment to train with. Part of this was because of the high cost of specialized equipment, another part was a desire not to spend money on people with disabilities as they are less worthy of the funding. A fourth issue is that facilities are not accessible to people with disabilities. Sometimes, venues do not want to let people with disabilities use them, sometimes, facilities lack accommodations for people with disabilities. Transportation around cities is not handicap accessible, making it difficult for elite athletes to get to training venues. Ethnic favoritism was a sixth problem impacting elite para-sport, there was a perception among elite athletes that the government and sporting officials favored certain ethnic groups. According to one athlete, for the 2000 Games, the team was dominated by ethnic Luo. For the 2004 Games, the trend was towards ethnic Kikuyu, in athletics, the preference tended to be towards Kalenjin. The last major issue was lack of support for participating in sport at the elite level. More Kenyans would have tried to represent their country at the Paralympic level, the above existed against a broad issue about perceptions in Black Africa about people with disabilities. These include beliefs that they acquired their disabilities because their parents were witches or they are wizards and their disability is often seen as a result of a personal failing on their part. As such, there is often tremendous cultural pressure for people physical disabilities to remain hidden
17.
Nigeria at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Nigeria sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. The country was represented by 28 athletes competing in four sports, powerlifting, table tennis, wheelchair tennis and track, the Nigerian team included eight powerlifters. These include beliefs that they acquired their disabilities because their parents were witches or they are wizards and their disability is often seen as a result of a personal failing on their part. As such, there is often tremendous cultural pressure for people physical disabilities to remain hidden. In many places, they are perceived to be monsters in need of healing and this is the context to which Nigerian Paralympians engage both society and sport internally, in their own country. The Nigerian Paralympic delegation left the Games having won more medals than their Olympic counterparts,11 representatives Men Women Lucy Ejike competed in the womens under 48 event, setting a pair of world records in the process of winning gold. One of her world record lifts was 130 kg, Nigeria was represented in table tennis by Segun Toriola. These were Toriolas fifth Paralympic Games, the Nigerian wheelchair tennis team consisted of a single competitor, 19-year-old Wasiu Yusuf. Yusuf qualified for the Games through a wildcard awarded to him for winning the ITF Silver Fund Cup for Africa in October 2007 and he participated in the mens singles event in Beijing and was knocked out in the first round by a loss to Stefan Olsson of Sweden. Nigeria at the Paralympics Nigeria at the 2008 Summer Olympics
18.
South Africa at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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South Africa sent a team to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. Natalie du Toit, five time gold medallist at the Athens Paralympics in 2004 and she also represented South Africa at the Beijing Olympics. Other members of the team included Charl Bouwer, Kevin Paul, Tadgh Slattery, Achmat Hassiem, Shireen Sapiro, Emily Gray, Sarah Shannon, Adri Visser. South Africa also sent an official, Sharief Gamiet, to the games. Oscar Pistorius represented South Africa in athletics, South African representatives also competed in wheelchair basketball
19.
Zambia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Zambia competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. The countrys delegation consisted of an athlete, middle-distance runner Larson Katongo. The 21-year-old Katongo, who is visually impaired, participated in the 800 metre and 1500 metre events, although he had competed in international meets before, this was his first Paralympic Games. Men 2008 Summer Paralympics Zambia at the Paralympics Zambia at the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games Official Site International Paralympic Committee
20.
Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
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Zimbabwe competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. The countrys delegation consisted of two track and field athletes, Elliot Mujaji and Molene Muza, Mujaji is a two-time Paralympic gold medalist, having won the 100 metre T46 event in 2000 and 2004, while Muza competed in the Paralympic Games for the first time. The group planned to leave for Beijing on 28 August and arrive two days later, Mujaji competed in the mens 100 and 200 metre races, and Muza in the womens javelin and shot put. Men Mujaji was hit by hamstring problems during the 200 m final and he had to stop and went on to hobble across the finish line. Women Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics
