The Christian Science Monitor digs into one of China’s most neglected Olympics stories:
The Paralympics offer China an equal, if not a greater, chance of national sporting glory than the main event: Its athletes swept the medals table at Athens 2004. Around 4,000 athletes from 150 countries are expected to attend the games, to be held next September after the Olympics end in August. Organizers are promising to stage another world-class sporting spectacular on a par with the regular games.
…Authorities face an uphill task, though, in refitting Beijing’s stations, museums, banks, and malls for the disabled and elderly. Simply crossing the road in a city fretted with stair-only footbridges and underpasses is virtually impossible in a wheelchair. [Full Text]
[Image: A disabled beggar shuffles down a street in Beijing’s Central Business District, by Sheila via Flickr]
