Moving opening display with a beating heart

PARALYMPICS:ATHLETE Hou Bin hoisted himself and his wheelchair up a rope to light the Paralympic flame, while 12-year-old Li Yue, who lost a leg in the Sichuan earthquake in May, danced ballet in a spectacular and moving ceremony to open the Beijing Paralympics on Saturday.

The floor of the Bird's Nest stadium was transformed into an ocean of light, and fireworks burst into the hot night sky. A spectacular display, but one with a beating heart aimed at showing China's commitment to improving the lot of its 83 million disabled citizens.

It was watched by 91,000 spectators, including President Hu Jintao, who earlier pledged his government's dedication to improving the lives of the country's disabled, many of whom have to deal with terrible discrimination.

The Irish squad were led by six-time Paralympian Patrice Dockery, who carried the flag ahead of the 45-strong team along with coaches, managers and staff into the stadium.

"It was wonderful. I thought going in it may be overwhelming, but as soon as we marched in it felt just deadly to be Irish and I couldn't have been more proud. It was a real honour to lead in this Irish team," said the track athlete.

Teenage Wexford swimmer Darragh McDonald was lost for words.

"I was just speechless, and it's one of the rare occasions I was! The whole team was amazed, in awe of the whole thing and just delighted to be here. My favourite part was definitely walking into the stadium," said the 14-year-old.

The Paralympics covers athletes with physical and sensory disability, broadly categorised in six groups: amputee, cerebral palsy (CP), visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, intellectual disability and others. Each category has a variety of competition levels.

The number taking part, over 4,000, is almost 10 times the number of entrants for the first Paralympics in Rome in 1960.

"These Games will have more athletes, more competing nations, and more sporting events than ever before," said Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee.

The ceremony, directed by China's top film director Zhang Yimou, who also did the opening and closing for the Olympics last month, incorporated sign language into a performance by 320 hearing-impaired dancers.

Blind pianist Jin Yuanhui played his compositions on a gleaming white piano against a backdrop of peach trees. There were 420 disabled artists among the 5,000 performers.