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发帖数: 5601 | 1 IPC President Andrew Parsons' Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony speech
www.paralympic.org/feature/ipc-president-andrew-parsons-beijing-2022-opening
-ceremony-speech
Full text of Andrew Parsons' Opening Ceremony address 04 Mar 2022
Your Excellency, Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China,
President of the Organising Committee, Cai Qi,
Sport fans all around the world,
Athletes from all competing delegations, officials and distinguished
guests,
Good evening and welcome to the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
Tonight, I want to begin with a message of peace.
As the leader of an organisation with inclusion at its core, where
diversity is celebrated and differences embraced, I am horrified at what is
taking place in the world right now.
The 21st Century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hate.
The Olympic Truce for peace during the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a
UN Resolution adopted by consensus by 193 Member States at the 76th UN
General Assembly. It must be respected and observed not violated.
At the IPC we aspire to a better and more inclusive world, free from
discrimination, free from hate, free from ignorance and free from conflict.
Here in Beijing, Paralympic athletes from 46 different nations will
compete with each other, not against each other.
Through sport they will showcase the best of humanity and highlight the
values that should underpin a peaceful and inclusive world.
Paralympians know that an opponent does not have to be an enemy, and that
united we can achieve more, much more.
Tonight, the Paralympic Movement calls on world authorities to come
together, as athletes do, and promote peace, understanding and inclusion.
The world must be a place for sharing, not for dividing.
Change Starts with Sport. Not only can it bring harmony, but it can be a
catalyst to transforming the lives of people, cities and countries.
As the first city to stage both the summer and winter Paralympics,
Beijing is proof of this.
Ahead of these Games, hundreds of thousands of facilities have been made
barrier free.
The venues are magnificent. The organisation is extraordinary. The Covid-
19 prevention and control - safe and efficient.
The hospitable Chinese people have built the stage to fully showcase the
best of Paralympic winter sports.
Efforts to encourage and engage persons with disabilities to try winter
sports have been outstanding.
To the people of China: Xiexie!
Paralympians, there is an important moment in your lives when, because of
sport, you embrace your disability. Not as something that defines you, but
something that is part of who you are. As you embrace it, you find your
strength, where others have seen weakness, and your find your own power and
path to maximise what you can do.
If 15% of world's population has a disability, Paralympians show to the
remaining 85% of people that persons with disabilities can do whatever they
want, if given the opportunity.
This is why the IPC and the International Disability Alliance launched
WeThe15 alongside a coalition of 18 international organisations.
Through WeThe15 we want to campaign for disability visibility,
accessibility, inclusion, and equality of rights.
Every one of the world's 1.2 billion citizens with disabilities should
have the same opportunity to live life to the fullest, chasing their dreams,
finding their way through life's ups and downs, and contributing to society
. As humankind, it is up to each and every one of us to Commit to Change to
guarantee that opportunity.
Finally, Paralympic athletes, your preparations to reach these Games have
not been easy, especially due to the global pandemic. You define the
meaning of determination, you personify perseverance.
Celebrate your achievements here, and be proud that your abilities can,
and will, change the world for a many, many millions of people.
Above all, have fun and play fair.
I wish you all the best of luck.
Xiexie! Thank you very much! Muito obrigado! Peace!
It is now my honour to invite the President of the People's Republic of
China, His Excellency Xi Jinping to declare open the Beijing 2022 Paralympic
Winter Games. | t***h
发帖数: 5601 | 2 美联社关于北京冬残奥会开幕式的报道：
As war rages, Paralympics open in Beijing without Russia
The Winter Paralympics have opened in Beijing with the Russian athletes sent
home and the Ukrainian team escaping a war zone to get to China
By KEN MORITSUGU, Associated Press, 4 March 2022
abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/war-rages-paralympics-opening-beijing-russia
-83246740
BEIJING -- The Winter Paralympics opened Friday in Beijing with the Russian
athletes sent home, the Ukrainian team escaping a war zone to get to China
and an impassioned call for peace.
Andrew Parsons, the president of the International Paralympic Committee,
declared his horror at the fighting in Ukraine and called on world
authorities to promote peace.
"Tonight, I want, I must begin with a message of peace," Parsons said in
brief remarks to the athletes and spectators at the Bird's Nest. "As the
leader of an organization with inclusion at its core, where diversity is
celebrated and differences embraced, I am horrified at what is taking place
in the world right now."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, shortly after the Winter Olympics wrapped up
in Beijing, is roiling the world. And the world of sports is no exception.
Paralympic organizers initially announced that Russians and Belarusians
would be allowed to compete in Beijing, but reversed course one day before
the opening and expelled athletes from both countries. They cited tensions
in the Athletes Village.
The Russian Paralympic Committee called the decision "absolutely politicized
."
The live broadcast of the opening on Chinese state TV did not translate
Parsons' condemnation of war and and then lowered the volume of his remarks
in English for a while. The Chinese government has refrained from
criticizing the invasion and opposed the U.S., European and other sanctions
imposed on Russia.
Ukrainian team member Maksym Yarovyi carried the country's now widely known
blue and yellow flag at the head of a 20-person delegation at the opening.
All the athletes and spectators wore face masks to protect against the
coronavirus, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and other dignitaries.
"It's a miracle that we have made it to the Paralympics," Ukrainian
delegation head Valerii Sushkevych said earlier.
He said it took four days for team members in Ukraine to reach Beijing, and
that he slept on the floor of a bus because of a back condition during the
last two days of the journey through Europe.
"We overcame a lot of barriers on the way," Sushkevych said. "Many members
of our team had to escape while there was bombardment and shells exploding."
Li Duan, a blind former long jumper for China who won gold in Athens in 2004
and in Beijing in 2008, felt around for the holder and then struggled a bit
to insert the flame. The crowd cheered him on until he mounted it properly
in the center of a large white snowflake that then ascended to the top of
the open-air stadium.
About 564 athletes, of which 138 are women, are competing in the Paralympics
. China has the largest team, with 96 competitors, followed by the United
States with 65. The Paralympics includes six sports: Alpine skiing, cross-
country skiing, biathlon, hockey, snowboarding and curling.
"Much work still needs to be done to achieve gender parity but having
increased female participation significantly at the Winter Games in the last
20 years shows we are heading in the right direction," Parsons said.
The 10-day Paralympics closes on March 13. |
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