New Munich team (L to R) Jurgen Buhl, Katrin Merkel, Willy Bogner, Steffi Klein, Stefan Bruckner, Andreas Weinberger, Jochen Farber / Image: Munich 2018

LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

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New Munich team (L to R) Jurgen Buhl, Katrin Merkel, Willy Bogner, Steffi Klein, Stefan Bruckner, Andreas Weinberger, Jochen Farber / Image: Munich 2018

LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

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IOC: Solid progress continues on 2012 Games with two years to go

08 Jul 2010The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has reported on ‘solid progress’ following the most recent Coordination Commission visit to London.

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International Inspiration leaves a legacy in Azerbaijan

12 May 2010Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee, has today seen firsthand the global legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in a visit to Azerbaijan to see the impact of London 2012’s International Inspiration programme. Sir Philip was guest of honour in the Azeri capital, Baku, as the work of the initiative was marked at the International Inspiration legacy conference. The achievements of the programme have been acknowledged by the Azeri government who have committed to continuing its work.

International Inspiration is London 2012’s official international sports legacy programme. Using the power of high-quality physical education, sport and play, International Inspiration works to enrich the lives of 12 million children and young people of all abilities in 20 countries across the world, including Azerbaijan.

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WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP)—The 2010 Winter Paralympics have been declared closed by the president of the International Paralympic Committee.

Sir Phillip Craven officially ended Canada’s first Paralympic Games before a crowd of thousands gathered in rainy Whistler, British Columbia.

Canada’s golden girl at the Games, Lauren Woolstencroft, who won five gold medals, carried the flag into the ceremonies on behalf of the host team.

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* Keeping balanced budget will use IOC funding

* Paralympics end, praised as success

By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER, March 21 (Reuters) - Organisers of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which ended on Sunday, are confident of avoiding a budget deficit when the final bills are paid.

“We think we’re sitting in a pretty good spot and will have a balanced budget when we’re done,” Dave Cobb, executive vice president of the Vancouver Organizing Committee, said before the Paralympics closing ceremony in Whistler.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—The closing ceremonies for the Paralympic Winter Games will be broadcast live across Canada in both English and French.

Originally, the ceremony wasn’t on CTV’s broadcast schedule for the Games.

The network reversed that decision after being happy with their numbers from the opening ceremonies broadcast.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—The International Paralympic Committee has a produced a guide aimed at helping reporters treat participants at the Paralympic Games like athletes first.

The three-page document on the IPC’s Web site lists about a dozen tips and a short glossary of words to avoid.

The document urges reporters not to use terms such as “crippled” or “victim,” and to emphasize the athlete before his or her disability.

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Televised coverage of the 2010 Paralympics will be a far cry from the thousands of hours international broadcasters devoted to the recently completed Olympic Games.

Whereas hundreds of broadcasters measured their Olympic coverage in hundreds of hours - in some cases filling the airwaves 22 hours a day - just over two dozen companies are left in Vancouver for the Paralympics, and they are counting their hours here by fives, 10s and 50s. And that's the total for the entire 10 days of the Games.

But as far as the Vancouver Organizing Committee and the International Paralympic Committee are concerned, that's not necessarily a bad thing, given it's a vast improvement over past Games.

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