Preparations for China's Special Olympic Games enters 'sprint phase'

Construction is essentially complete on venues for China's 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games, it was announced on Friday.

Chen Xuejun, deputy secretary general for both games, said except for construction on one temporary location, all other venues are now complete and have passed sports technology acceptance and barrier-free environment construction inspection.

Chen made the remarks at a news conference in Guangzhou on Friday to mark 100-days until the beginning of the two tournaments that will be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao from Dec 8 to 15.

With a total of 36 competition venues, Guangdong will host 15 preliminary events for the National Games for Persons with Disabilities and Special Olympic Games, Chen said.

As of Friday, three of those events have been held, while the remaining 12 events will take place before the opening ceremony, he added.

According to Chen, a total of 9,735 athletes with disabilities and their coaches from across China have now confirmed their participation in the games, representing a new record.

"Among them, 1,323 are on wheelchairs, 416 are totally blind and 1,163 are hearing-impaired athletes, reflecting a broad enthusiasm for participation," said Chen.

Yeung Tak-keung, head of the Hong Kong event coordination office said he was delighted to reach the 100-day countdown, ushering preparations into the crucial sprint phase.

"To refine various preparation work, Hong Kong collaborated with relevant sports federations and institutions between March and June to conduct pre-competition drills for the events," he said.

Hong Kong has recruited nearly 17,000 volunteers of all ages to help with the games, Yeung added.

Hong Kong will host four competition events, including three Paralympic events —boccia, wheelchair fencing and table tennis (Class TT11) – as well as one Special Olympic table tennis round. Hong Kong will also host a public-participation wheelchair dance event, according to Yeung.

Pun Weng-kun, coordinator of Macao's preparatory office, said the Macao Special Administrative Region, which will host the badminton contests, completed its operation test earlier this month.