4th ASEAN Paragames

The 4th ASEAN ParaGames is a biannual multi-sport event held after every Southeast Asian Games, for athletes with physical disabilities from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The games are hosted by the same country where the SEA Games takes place.

Nakhon Ratchasima province of Thailand will host the 4th ASEAN Para Games from 17 - 27 January 2008 under the theme concept: "FRIENDSHIP, EQUALITY, OPPORTUNITY"

4th ASEAN ParaGames objectives:

• Promote friendship and solidarity among persons with disabilities in the Asean Region through sports

• Promote and develop sports for the differently abled

• Rehabilitate and integrate persons with disability into mainstream society through sports

The games, patterned after the Paralympics, includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputees, visual disabilities and those with cerebral palsy. Joining the action are delegations from Southeast Asian countries as well as top ASEAN athletes who've competed in the 9th FESPIC Games, held in Kuala Lumpur 2006. The previous 2005 ASEAN ParaGames was held in Manila, Philippines.

In the upcoming 4th ASEAN Para Games, 14 sports will be contested and 186 gold medals will be offered. They include archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, chess, fencing, goalball, judo, powerlifting, shooting, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. The ASEAN ParaGames is subject to the regulations of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF).

History of Paralympic Games

Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition in 1948 which became known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, involving World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries; in 1952 competitors from the Netherlands took part in the competition, giving an international notion to the movement. The first Olympic-style games for athletes with a disability were held in Rome in 1960; officially called the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, these are considered to be the first Paralympic Games. [2] The first Winter Paralympics were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1976. [3]

Since 1988, the Summer Paralympics have been held in the conjunction with the Olympic Games in the same host city. This practice was adopted in 1992 for the Winter Paralympics, and became an official policy of the International Olympic Committee and the IPC following a June 19, 2001 agreement. The Games take place three weeks after the closing of the Olympics, in the same host city and using the same facilities. Cities bidding to host the Olympic Games must include the Paralympic Games in their bid, and typically both Games are now run by a single organizing committee.

In the 1996 Atlanta Games athletes with intellectual disabilities were allowed to participate for the first time.

Cheating controversies

Main article: Cheating at the Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games have seen damaging scandals regarding cheating in the events. After the 2000 Sydney Games, in which non-disabled athletes were entered in the Spanish Basketball ID team [4], athletes with intellectual difficulties were suspended indefinitely by the IPC [5]. The IPC has stated that it will re-evaluate their participation following the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games are a multi-sport event for athletes with physical, mental and sensorial disabilities. This includes mobility disabilities, amputees, visual disabilities and those with cerebral palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years, following the Olympic Games, and are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). (The Paralympic Games are sometimes confused with the Special Olympics, which are only for people with intellectual disabilities.)

The name derives from the Greek "para" ("beside" or "alongside") and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games. No relation with paralysis or paraplegia is intended, however, the word Paralympic was originally a portmanteau combining 'paraplegic' and 'Olympic