2010 Asian Para Games

1st Asian Para Games
Host city Guangzhou, China
Motto We cheer, we share, we win! (我们欢聚，我们分享，我们共赢！)
Nations participating 41
Athletes participating 2405
Events 19 estimated
Opening ceremony December 12
Closing ceremony December 19
Officially opened by Li Keqiang
Athlete's Oath Li Duan
Judge's Oath Yeoh Keat Chye
Torch lighter Zhang Lixin
Zhang Hai Yuan
Main venue Guangdong Olympic Stadium
2014  >

The 2010 Asian Para Games, also known as the First Asian Para Games, was a parallel sport event for Asian athletes with a disability held in Guangzhou, China. Two weeks after the conclusion of the 16th Asian Games, It opened on December 12 and closed on December 19, 2010.

Approximately 5,500 athletes from 45 Asian member nations participated in this paralympic multisport competition, making this the most comprehensive Asian event as a stepping stone for elite Asian athletes aiming for the London 2012 Paralympics. Competition and training venues plus all other facilities to be used for the 16th Asian Games were converted to meet the disability-accessible requirements for Asian Para Games athletes, officials, staff and audience.

The inaugural Asian Para Games for Asia was expected to become the benchmark for all future Asian Para Games. The 1st Asian Para Games was organized by the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) in cooperation with the Guangzhou Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (GAPGOC). Over 25,000 volunteers provided a variety of services; some 500,000 city volunteers provided services at 600 service stations and 2,139 service stands in the city. Guangzhou's residents were provided free Games tickets and enjoyed free public transport to the games venues. Competition venues were filled on average with more than 90% capacity.[1]

History

The Asian Para Games superseded the FESPIC Games, which was dissolved at the closing of the final FESPIC edition held November 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The first Asian multisports event for athletes with a disability, the inaugural Asian Para Games was in 2010 in Guangzhou, China.

Participating nations

41 participating Asian nation participants named and arranged after their List of International Paralympic Committee (IPC) country codes.

Marketing

The official mascot.

Emblem

The official emblem was inspired by traditional Xiguan coloured glass windows used in Guangzhou since the 17th century and is an important part of Lingnan architecture. The gaps between the coloured glass displays a silhouette of an athlete in motion. The overall design represents both the hospitality of the people of Guangzhou and the ability of the Asian Para Games to break down barriers between abled and disabled people.[2]

Mascot

The official mascot for the 1st Asian Para Games is Fun Fun (芬芬), an anthropomorphic kapok, a flower which is native to Guangzhou. The mascot represents strength, joy and vitality of the athletes and the Asian Para movement. [3]

The Games

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was held at 8:00pm on 12 December in the Guangdong Olympic Stadium. The ceremony was supervised by director-in-chief Zhu Jianwei and included more than 4600 performers, among whom 300 had a disability. The high-tech artistic performance dubbed "A Beautiful World" was divided into three main sections: "Aspirations", "Pursuing the Dream" and "Flying", which highlighted the themes of family, society and persons with a disability.[4] The spiral-shaped cauldron was lit by Zhang Lixin and Zhang Haiyuan both of whom have one leg.

The opening ceremony was attended by Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, President of Asian Paralympic Committee Dato' Zainal Abu Zarin and President of the International Paralympic Committee Philip Craven.

Sports

nineteen sports are on the program:

Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony was held at 8:00pm on 19 December in the Guangdong Olympic Stadium featuring Chinese cultural performances and fireworks. The 40-minute artistic performance was entitled "You Make the World Different" comprising three chapters, namely "Sky and Sea" (blue), "Leaf and Vein" (green), and "Light and Dream" (red), and was themed on the concepts of reunion and departure.[5] It featured songs by local artists Cao Fujia, Huang Zheng, Xu Yang and Shi Peng and a performance by hundreds of children.[6]

Among the highlights was as the cauldron flame was extinguished, the torch which ignited the cauldron during the opening ceremony was relit and passed down the man-made cliff below the cauldron by several disabled athletes forming the Chinese character for people "ren" (人). The flame was then carried in a rectangular lantern and handed over to Wan Qingliang, the mayor of Guangzhou. As the first Asian Para Games, the flame will be kept in Guangzhou forever. The torch and flag of the Guangzhou Asian Para games as well as the flag of the Asian Paralympic Committee were passed from Wan Qingling to Dato' Zainal Abu Zarin who passed it on to the President of South Korea Paralympic Committee for the 2014 Games. All future games closing ceremonies will involve delegations passing the torch and flag of the Guangzhou Games.

The closing ceremony was attended by President of Asian Paralympic Committee Dato' Zainal Abu Zarin and State Councilor of the People's Republic of China Liu Yandong. In their speeches, the officials and organisers congratulated the athletes and thanked them for contributing to the success of the games. Wang Xinxian, President of Chinese Paralympic Committee, said, "We can say proudly that the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Para Games were a complete success under the theme, "We Cheer, We Share, We Win". We are confident that the Asian Para Games flame with the value of humanitarianism will forever light the way of human progress and a better tomorrow."[5] Dato' Zainal Abu Zarin described the games as "the best Games for [disabled] athletes ever staged in Asia so far".[5] The ceremony was watched by a 60,000 capacity-stadium crowd.[5] The games were officially closed by Abu Zarin.[6]

Medal table

Medals of the first-ever Asian Para Games were won by 31 of all the 41 countries and regions. Twenty athletes from 6 delegations had broken 17 world records a total of 21 times and 74 athletes from 13 delegations had broken 82 Asian records 98 times. The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, China, is highlighted.

2010 Asian Para Games medal table
 Rank  NPC Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  China (CHN)* 185 118 88 391
2  Japan (JPN) 32 39 32 103
3  South Korea (KOR) 27 43 33 103
4  Iran (IRI) 27 24 29 80
5  Thailand (THA) 20 34 39 93
6  Malaysia (MAS) 9 13 23 45
7  Iraq (IRQ) 9 5 6 20
8  Chinese Taipei (TPE) 8 7 11 26
9  Hong Kong (HKG) 5 9 14 28
10  United Arab Emirates (UAE) 4 6 1 11
Total (31 NPCs)3413383411020

Venues

Thirty-two existing stadiums and gyms have been updated by organizers in addition to building eleven new ones, at a total cost estimate of 6 billion Yuan. The athletes' village estimated cost is around 2 billion Yuan.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Inaugural Asian Para Games concludes with flame and spirit to stay forever". Xinhua. 2010-12-19. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  2. ↑ Official Homepage: The Official Emblem of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Para Games unveiled
  3. ↑ Official Homepage: The Official Mascot of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Para Games unveiled
  4. ↑ Official Homepage: Asian Para Games Opening Ceremony to highlight love
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Curtain falls on 2010 Asian Para Games". CNTV. 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  6. 1 2 Ahmad Muliady Abdul Majid (2010-12-19). "Asian Para Games Come To Spectacular Close". Bernama. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  7. ↑ Guangzhou: Olympic Sports Center chosen as chief venue for 2010 Asian Games
Preceded by
Kuala Lumpur		 Asian Para Games
Guangzhou
I Asian Para Games (2010) 		Succeeded by
Incheon
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