Australian Paralympic team aim for 1000th medal
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Paralympic Team will be looking to win its 1000th medal when competition gets underway at the Beijing Paralympic Games.
Australia has competed at every Paralympic Games since the 1960 Rome Games winning 908 medals.
With 170 athletes competing in Beijing the task of Australia emulating the 100 medals won in Athens four years ago will be a tough one.
'We finished second on the medal tally in Athens but there is no doubt that Beijing will be the most competitive Games ever,' said Greg Hartung, President Australian Paralympic Committee.
'We expect the standard of competition to be at an all-time high, particularly from China, Great Britain, the USA and emerging Paralympic powers such as Ukraine, Japan and Brazil.'
'As our athletes continue to make the transition further into the realm of elitism, so do more and more athletes with a disability from right around the world.'
'While Australia will leave these shores as the best-prepared, they will arrive in China facing their toughest-ever test.'
Australian athletes (96 men and 74 women) will compete in 13 sports throughout the Beijing Games.
The bulk of Australia’s paralympic medals are expected to come from athletics, swimming and cycling.
The Australian Government, through the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), is a long-time supporter of our Paralympians. During the current Paralympic cycle, the ASC has worked strategically with the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) to plan for a successful Beijing Paralympic campaign.
This partnership has included over $26 million in ASC funding dedicated assisting Australia’s Paralympic athletes in their sporting endeavours.
The ASC also provided in excess of $1 million through the Australian Government Sport Training scheme to targeted athletes from the sports of rowing, powerlifting, equestrian, men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball, cycling, athletics, shooting, table tennis, wheelchair rugby, tennis and swimming, to assist in their preparation for Beijing.
In early 2008, the Australian Government confirmed its continued support of the APC, with an additional $22.8 million in funding over a five year period beginning in 2007/08.
This funding supplements existing Government assistance provided through the Australian Sports Commission to underpin the APC’s national campaign to contest the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing and lays the groundwork for the 2010 Winter Games and the 2012 Summer Games.
It will also provide an enhanced capacity to support Australian Paralympic athletes contesting other international events and assist in the televising of the Paralympics.
Ken Wallace