The Paralympic torch relay began its final journey through Beijing on Friday, after a week of touring the country.
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Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games, lights the torch during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic torch relay in Beijing September 5, 2008. [Agencies]
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The first torchbearer Wang Juan, who lost her right leg in a traffic accident 20 years ago, took the torch from BOCOG President Liu Qi who lit it with the combined flame of the Ancient and Modern routes.
Wang, 33, passed the torch on to Sam Sullivan, mayor of Vancouver, which will host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Torchbearer Zhou Ye takes part in the Beijing 2008 Paralymipc torch relay in the Summer Palace in Beijing September 5, 2008. [Xinhua] |
"I consider it a great honor to be a Paralympic torchbearer in China on behalf of my city," Sullivan, the first quadriplegic mayor in his city's history, told China Daily in Chinese.
"Beijing's preparations for the Paralympics have moved me a lot."
The athletic, 1.9 m-tall Sullivan became paralyzed after he broke his neck in a skiing accident at the age of 19.
Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee, was the 38th torchbearer.
"Great progress has been made in the past six and half years in Beijing We have had wonderful weather here and everything points to a great Games," Craven, 58, a five-time Paralympian who represented UK in wheelchair basketball and swimming from 1972 to 1988, said.
He lost the use of his legs at the age of 16, in a rock-climbing accident.
TV anchor Liu Wenyan said: "I would like to take this opportunity as a Paralympic torchbearer to tell my friends with disabilities that love begins with respect and equality.
"My job gives me the chance to put my feet in disabled people's shoes, and I am always encouraged by their spirit," she said.
Fu Xinhua, the 25th torchbearer, said: "If the Olympics shows the splendor of sports, the Paralympics represents the human desire for health and to strive beyond physical constraints.
"The Paralympics will significantly raise Chinese people's awareness and respect for those with physical difficulties," Fu, the founder of a HealthMedia Foundation, which helps children with severe diseases, said.
At the Summer Palace, several torchbearers from London, the next host of the Games, took part in the relay on Kunming Lake.
"It is wonderful experience and I got the honor to represent London," Michelle Martin, a 45-year-old director of a volunteer center, said.
The final stages of the two-day Beijing relay will be held on Saturday at Chaoyang Park, and involve 120 torchbearers.
The event will end with the torch arriving at the Bird's Nest for the opening ceremony of the Paralympics.
