IPC

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International Federation for nine sports, for which it supervises and co-ordinates the World Championships and other competitions. The IPC is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to developing sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality.

Founded on 22 September 1989, the IPC is an international non-profit organization formed and run by 162 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) from five regions and four disability specific international sports federations (IOSDs). The IPC Headquarters and its management team are located in Bonn, Germany.

For further information, please contact Steffi Klein, IPC Media and Communications Senior Manager, on e-mail: steffi.klein@paralympic.org or go to www.paralympic.org and www.ParalympicSport.TV.

Drug Testing

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) officially announces that only three anti-doping rule violations occurred during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. All three were in the sport of Powerlifting and happened before competitions began. Because there was no anti-doping rule violation in-competition, the IPC feels the Games to be still a successful showing and of fair competition.

A total of 1,155 doping tests were conducted during the testing period of the Games, with a total of 317 tests out-of-competition and 838 tests in-competition across all sports. The total number of athletes who were tested was 893, with 215 being out-of-competition and 678 in-competition. Compared to Athens in 2004, where 680 tests resulted in ten anti-doping rule violations (two out-of-competition and eight in-competition), the IPC saw a clear progression in the fight against doping.

Said Sir Philip Craven: "Although the IPC did not reach the goal of violation-free Games, we are noting the Beijing 2008 Games as a great success and a strong stepping stone into a future where the organization and its athletes continue to grow and follow our commitment to fair play. We thank all our partners for their tireless efforts."

Dance Sport

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Dance Sport Federation (IDSF) signed a co-operative agreement to ensure a formal institutional relationship between the two bodies and further develop the sport of Wheelchair Dance Sport. Furthermore, IPC and IDSF will work together to progress the realization of a single international governing body for Dance Sport, which encompasses Wheelchair Dance Sport.

The co-operative agreement outlines the strong partnership between the IPC and IDSF. Both organizations will collaborate to build closer relations between and amongst the National Dance Sport Federations and the National Paralympic Committees for the development of Wheelchair Dance Sport. Furthermore, the IPC and IDSF agree to integrate and mainstream Wheelchair Dance Sport competitions into existing and developing Dance Sport competitions.

The agreement commits both organizations to work together in supporting the growth of the sport and co-operate in the development of rules and regulations that enhance the development and excitement of Wheelchair Dance Sport.

Said IPC President Sir Philip Craven: "We look forward to working with IDSF to develop this amazing sport of Wheelchair Dance Sport. This partnership will help to promote the sport and the opportunities in this sport for athletes with a disability."

The IPC acts as the International Federation for nine sports, one of which is Wheelchair Dance Sport. Over the past four years, this sport has developed significantly with regards to the number of countries and quality of athletes competing.

"Signing this co-operation agreement with the IPC is an important milestone in our quest to unite all forms of dance practized as sport. We are confident that the World Dance Sport Federation, the new governing body which is to evolve from IDSF in accordance with our Vision 2012, will provide all athletes with optimal pathways to fulfil their ambitions. We expect our national members to embrace Wheelchair Dance Sport in their competition structure", said IDSF President Carlos Freitag.

Paralympic Sport TV

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is proud to announce that its Internet TV Channel ParalympicSport.TV (PSTV) has won the W3 Silver Award in three categories.

The Award honours the work of the IPC and brandstage.tv, IPC's co-founding partner of ParalympicSport.TV. The W3 recognizes creative excellence on the web, and  the creative and marketing professionals behind award-winning sites, videos and marketing programmes. The W3 is the first major web competition to consider the biggest agencies, the smallest firms, and everyone in between with their awards. It is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a "Who's Who" of acclaimed media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms.

ParalympicSport.TV is a top quality, television channel broadcasting 24/7 via the Internet with normal and full-screen size capability for the best viewing experience. Free of charge, people from all over the world can watch live and delayed programming, and take advantage of on-demand coverage additionally available. Essentially, ParalympicSport.TV underlines the truly global nature of Paralympic broadcasting.

The Paralympic World Cup 2008 Trailer and the paraEmotion Special - Bernd Best 2008 Wheelchair Ruby Tournament, both broadcasted on PSTV, won in the "Events and Live Broadcasts" category. The website www.ParalympicSport.TV won a Silver Award in the "Website" category.

All entries are judged based on a standard of excellence as determined by the IAVA and according to the category entered.

During the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, PSTV broadcasted up to 15 hours per day of live commentated coverage. The live signals of twelve Paralympic sports included Athletics, Boccia, Cycling (Track), Football 7-a-side, Judo, Table Tennis, Swimming, Volleyball (Sitting), Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Fencing, Wheelchair Rugby, and Wheelchair Tennis.The official programme of ParalympicSport.TV has an interesting mixture of sports, interviews, events and athletes.

The IPC's channel is managed by brandstage.tv GmbH, co-founding partner of ParalympicSport.TV together with the IPC and Narrowstep Ltd. As a full service internet television agency based in Hamburg, Germany, brandstage.tv provides the production and editorial work for the channel. Narrowstep Ltd. provides the broadcast platform and technology for the coverage on ParalympicSport.TV. As the world's leading technical solution provider in the Internet TV space, Narrowstep was founded in 2002 in Great Britain. The channel is supported by Samsung, official Worldwide Partner of the IPC.

For more information of ParalympicSport.TV, please visit the official website at www.ParalympicSport.TV.