Fourth BOCOG/IPC joint press conference

Philip Craven

Very interesting question. Comparison, well, really I am going to leave that to you. Two Games have taken place here. Have those games been of equal splendor with distinguishing features? I think so. It's something I feel than rather than I can put into words. I've never been into problems that some journalist have to really writing down what they felt in the air here. But it's been such a family atmosphere, so many families both from China and abroad to the Olympic Green or you call it Paralympic Green, and coming to the events. In the events, there are some criticism of the Olympic Games where the crowds are extremely partisan. That the television coverage is very partisan. And it still be a little bit of the case for the Paralympics. But I hope that you've noticed that here in the Paralympics, the fans and spectators, clapped for both sides. Of course, there is Chinese athletes competing, there is a little bit louder. But I'm talking around this issues, that there are so many similar things between the Olympics and Paralympics, if you think about the stadiums, the same organizing committee, the top flight sports. A lot of similarity but with distinguishing features.

Coming back to your second question about the format, at the moment we are very happy with that. Let's take the media again. I was told to put the Paralympics before the Olympics then the media will come to the Paralympics, tested out and stay on for the Olympics. I don't believe that would be the case. They'll still go home and come back. Also we won't have any incredible test event before our games to test things out. I think we benefited so much even here from certain areas, which have to be worked out early on in the Olympics. It was incredible benefit for us. So I believe it's the right format for the moment. Who knows in the future, who knows for this festival, the two games, who knows if there would be something more coming together. But at the moment, it's great to have Paralympic identity and Olympic identity. We are not going to come together. And the IOC doesn't want to come together. But we've had good relationship between the two committees, but anything is possible in the future.

Vancouver Sun

Two things for Mr. Philip. You've only had three out of competion doping fractions, not during the games, I wonder if that's a reflection of you are winning the battle on doping or rather those who are doping are getting better in cheating at it not getting caught during competitions. The second question which is more to your point, it was thought that the Paralympics should have better signage, better explanation. It wasn't a criticism of Beijing, but just trying to explain to the viewers what they are looking at, how to do it. But doesn't that run sort of counter to the whole issue that you have been trying to fight for which is just accepting Paralympic athletes as athletes, that we don't distinguish what their disabilities are. I wonder how you would address this issue, how do you then get a wider public audience at the same time still respecting the athletes for who they really are?

Philip Craven

First question with regard to the doping. We think that it's a pretty good result. There have been 1000 tests conducted here for a thousand athletes. As has been said, there are 3 positive in one sport but that sport has been targeted in the tests. You know the other 3000 athletes that were not tested, you start saying that maybe they are the ones that got away. But we don't think that at all. We think that what have been put in place here with great cooperation with BOCOG is shown that the Paralympic Games are near enough free of doping. The winter games were free of it in Turino Games completely. So we are not happy that there are still 3 positive tests. I don't think that we are going away and laughing at this and saying that was a pretty good Games in the doping point of view. Those 3 tests are something that we don't want and we will fight to catch the cheats if they keep on showing on the games even if it's only the three of them. We will work even harder on the education. We worked very hard on the education of our sports for the last 4 years. That is the key elements. Sorry about the three. But we believe that we are tackling the issue. I think we can say that we are having some success but we want more success.

Going to what you mentioned, I think we can call it sports presentation. It's about fair play and fair competition. It is a sport issue but has nothing to do with the disability. So it isn't a problem in finding and improving in an expounded ways of getting the public more involved in the sports. Some sports fans want to know the ins and outs of everything to do with the sports, or they just watch it and get excited like what I did in the Wheelchair Basketball. It's not getting been a problem, an athlete is an athlete. But if you want to understand more why certain athletes are competing with each other, that's to do with the classification, but it's to do with the function., so it can be explained in sporting definitions. Nothing to do with the D word 'disability', which I wanted to bury at the bottom of the ocean, but maybe at the bottom of the ocean won't light out of that word.

Shanghai Xinmin Evening

What has moved you the most during your stay in Beijing?

Philip Craven

I'm moved for many times. When I was at the performance at the Poly Theater I was so emotional. I said to Mr. Hu Jindao, if you keep pulling emotional moments out of the hat for me, I don't know if I'm going to make it to the end of the games. And he put his hands on mine and said you will be OK. It has been so many moments. Everybody kept coming up to me after the Opening Ceremony, with tears in their eyes, and these are mothers with kids, fathers, men and women, and they said what a fantastic Opening Ceremony. It was like a story unfolding. Maybe the greatest moment was going into the National Stadium about a week ago. 90,000 fans. I just said that sports will come to full stop. Maybe that's the most emotional. Maybe the Women's Wheelchair Tennis Final, that was an incredible sport. And I said to myself, who needs Wimbledon when you got this. It was great. I can keep going on if you want. But I will be going away soon. I can talk to you later.

Yomiuri Shimbun

Two questions if I may. One is a follow up of my colleague from Canada. You did say that the Olympics or Paralympics are similar but with different features. And athletes were getting more professional and pursuing elitism. The Olympic Games itself is getting more prestige with the broadcasting fees and sponsors. How would you tell those athletes who are looking at both Olympics and Paralympics in the future, what are the things that Paralympic Games have as distinction. What do you call Paralympic spirit that indeed this is the competition that they would like to participate in. Second, for the future organizer and bidder of the Paralympic Games, how important it is for their countries' team to perform in their Paralympic Games? How important it is to have the society to have awareness and readiness to welcome athletes? Thank you.

Philip Craven

These are quite deep philosophical question. So please give me a minute, will you? What is the Paralympic spirit, well, that's a good one, isn't it. Let me tell you I believe sports goes on here, if we want to talk about sports or what's sports. I believe sports is purely the best of life values that sports show. Talking about athletes, those values of sports, such as fair play, teamwork, friendship, high level and extremely competitive sports events, athletes wanting to win, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to win by the way, and winning. And there is nothing wrong also in trying to win and then being second or third. I don't want to give talks purely on the values of sports. But it's these values that have to be protected as we move forward. You mentioned it being bigger, but you didn't mention it being better. But we have to safeguard the values of sports exhibited in the Paralympic Games with all our efforts as we move forward. If we don't, we are in trouble and we lose the Paralympic identity. But I don't think it's a problem for the athletes to become more competent. You used the word professional. I want to know what's that word means. Does that mean you earn the money or you just become more competent. But I would say about earning money, you don't need to earn millions of dollars, to be able to live well from sports. I would hate to be multimilliomare athletes in the para games. Too much money can corrupt. Going to your second and very different question, the home team doing well is pretty important. I thought the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics is very cultural event. I was expecting far more bizarre after those drums started off. But we went into a cultural thing. And I have to think about it after. These Chinese, they are pretty clever. Because the drums came when the Chinese team started competing. Again, the second time, they did it again in the Paralympics Opening Ceremony. Some would say what that has to do with sport. Maybe a lot of things have something to do with life. Then the Chinese team come along with 87 gold medals. I think that speaks for itself. Let's look again to the next Games. We have Vancouver, Canada taking major steps to own the podium. I don't know if they've got complete right on it to expect every gold medal. But they are putting major money into their team. Britain, second in the medal table here at the moment. And after London, the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. The Russians did very well in the last winter games in Turino particularly in the cross country skiing. Let's say how they go on in the alpine events. It's very important, but I think if you look back over the last few games, you've seen that normally the home team is always doing well and it has brought the whole nation to watch the Games.

Voice of American

I have a question for Mr. Wang. I wanted to follow up about your answer about the legacy of the Paralympic Games. Besides the good feelings that the Paralympic Games have instilled in the Chinese people, would there be any concrete legacy as well? I was most struck by the comment made by the first ever Chinese Paralympic gold medalist Ping Yali. She said, she was the gold medalist in the daytime, she was the big star and at night she went home and had nothing to eat and nothing to drink and wanted to commit suicide. I'm wondering she was in Beijing, which has a very small fraction of China's handicapped people. There are 83 million handicapped people in China, is there going to be any concrete legacy from the Paralympic Games to help the handicapped people in China?

Wang Wei

Thank you for your question. I don't know what you're saying is true or not, that when she came home, she had nothing to eat. From my knowledge, we have 83 million people with disability, and I think they are very well taken care off. The Chinese government is determined to provide good living standard for people with disability. Although China is still a developing country, there are poverty stricken areas in China where people are living not as better-off life as people in Beijing. I think that when you talk about concrete legacy for people with legacy. That has something to do with the awareness of people with disability in the general public. Not only the Chinese government at all levels, but the people in general are beginning to feel more about the people with disability. That awareness will become a concrete measure for the whole society to respect, to care for people with disability. I'm a firm believer that not only the living standard of the people with disability will be improved after the Paralympics with fast development of China's modernization, but people in all China, their living standard will improve. The Paralympic Games will serve as a milestone to increase the awareness for people with disability in China will be a big step forward. So I think things will be better and better in the future.

Philip Craven

The CEO of the Sochi Paralympic Organizing Committee said to me during a reception before the Opening Ceremony that they want to spread the message of Sochi to the rest of Russia. So they've been in China before the Olympic Games, to look whether in China it will only be Beijing or Qingdao to have accessible features and the rest of the country don't. But they went on quite a wide journey in China to many cities, and we found what was going on in Beijing was also going on in those cities as well. And it made him realize that this is not just localized happening, but definitely major efforts to make it nationwide.

People.com.cn

I wanted to ask Mr. Craven, many Chinese didn't know much about the Paralympics. And many of them came to the venues and to enjoy the atmosphere, but after they came, when they see the wheelchair, they suddenly felt that they like the events. What do you think about this kind of change? What is your comment on that? In the next few years, will the IPC look into any kind of extension or expansion of the sporting events in China in preparation for London?

Philip Craven

Our vision within in the IPC is to enable and empower Paralympic athletes to achieve sports excellent, and to inspire and excite the world. We wrote that vision about 6 years ago and we still think it's very relevant today. But there is another word we could put before 'inspire' and 'excite', and that's 'surprise'. Normally spectators are first of all surprised by what they see, then they are inspired and also excited. Many times these events can change their perception or even change the world. The only way you can change perceptions, you can try with laws and laws can even turn people off in changing their perceptions. But if you give them positive experiences, which is happening here, they can change forever, and sometimes the change instantaneously. We can talk all day. These are sport people and all people are just people. The second part, China has build the training venue center near the airport here in Beijing. It cost 60 to 70 million euros. It was only opened in 2007. With all the centers throughout the country, these ones had limited effects on the performance of the Chinese team here in Beijing. That means they are in this for the long haul. China is definitely a big fan of Olympic sport and China is going to make sure that their athletes continue to be very good. Talking about event, the next big event will be the first Para-Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010 which follows on from the Asian Games. We have similar games, called FESPIC Games. The last time they took place was in Kuala Lumpur in 2006. Again, this experience that we've had here for the world will be repeated for Asian in Guangzhou in 2010.

Sun Weide

We're going to have another press briefing at 11:00 a.m. So we have to finish our press briefing now. Again, I would like to thank the volunteers and interpreters for the great jobs you have done. I'd like to thank our friends from the media. We hope you have enjoyed your reporting on the Paralympic Games.