In China, more than 4,000 athletes are looking forward to this weekend's
opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games in Beijing. China's fielding more
than 300 competitors; there's 200 going from the United States and 170 from
Australia. But just three each are going from the Philippines, Indonesia and
Burma, while Cambodia's pinning its medal hopes on just one competitor.
Presenter: Bo Hill
Speakers: Yi Veasna, secretary general, National Paralympic Committee of
Cambodia; Sukanti Bintoro, international relations, National Paralympic
Committee of Indonesia; Michael Barredo, president, National Paralympic
Committee of the Philippines.
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HILL: Over the 12 days of competition, the Beijing Paralympic Games will
attract more than 4000 competitors, 2,500 referees, 4,000 journalists and half
a million spectators. For Cambodia's 100 and 200 metre sprinter, Kim Vanna, a
wildcard has given him a chance to improve on a silver medal at the ASEAN Games
earlier this year. He's Cambodia's sole competitor at Beijing, and secretary
general of the National Paralympic Committee, Yi Veasna will be there to
provide support.
YI: We think that he is the quality and you know hopefully he will bring back
something.
HILL: The chances of a medal, however, are slim. Just like the difference in
the Olympic pool between those with the so-called supersuits and those without,
Kim Vanna will be competing without the benefit of the latest technology. He
has received a donated prosthetic leg from South Korea, and while it's better
made then those from Cambodia, it's not designed for running. For Paralympians
in Indonesia, the story is similar. National Paralympic Committee member,
Sukanti Bintoro, says he's not being pessimistic when he predicts that all
three Indonesian paralympians have no chance for a medal.
SUKANTI: Yes, the biggest barrier is of course funding. We can see very clearly
that disabled bodied athletes are very low importance like this to the
government.
HILL: Indonesia's competitors are all wildcard entries because, says Sukanti
Bintoro, there's not enough money to send them to qualifiers. In the
Philippines, national Paralympic Committee head, Michael Barredo, says his
athletes have the same problem.
BARREDO: Certainly there is a big disparity between the kinds of support or
funding we get for the Paralympics though we are happy that we do get some
funding, we'd welcome a lot more because we might have had a chance to have a
lot more qualified athletes to Paralympic Games if we were able to send our
athletes at the eliminations or qualifiers, the world championships, etc.
HILL: This year the Philippines will send three athletes, none of whom are
wildcards, and as Michael Barredo says, the paralympic movement is working hard
to improve its chances.
BARREDO: We've sent two the last two Games, now we have three. So that's a 50
per cent improvement if you'd call it that.
HILL: The Philippines hasn't won a medal in the Olympics since 1996; it's fared
better in the Paralympics. But there's a lot riding on paralympian powerlifter
Adeline Dumapong to help restore a little national pride.
BARREDO: You know back in 2000 when we had the Paralympic Games and Olympic
Games in Sydney, the Philippines Olympians did fail to get a single medal as
well and Ms Dumapong did get the bronze and certainly that was a happy moment
for our country. Of course we'd like to bring a medal home after the failure of
our Olympic team to bring one.
HILL: Sukanti Bintoro, says Indonesia's poor performance at last month's
Olympics is a reflection of the priority placed on sport in the country.
SUKANTI: In comparison with the huge population, our performance in the
Olympics, or in sports in general, is very low. It's sad but it is true,
perhaps one way or the other, it's related to the economic condition of
Indonesia nowadays.
HILL: And while Mr Sukanti and the Indonesian committee lobby Jakarta for more
monetary support, in Cambodia Yi Veasna says it's not so hard. Prime Minister
Hun Sen is the chairman of the paralympic committee and Yi Veasna says is a
prominent advocate.
YI: I feel that he's also blind one eye so he is very much keen on working with
the disabled people issue.
HILL: Either way, competing with the likes of China and the US at an
international level is daunting. But then again, it took the Chinese Olympic
team just 20 years to go from winning just five gold medals in Los Angeles, to
51 gold medals in Beijing.
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