Paralympics Team Settling Into Life In Beijing
The New Zealand Paralympics team has had no trouble settling into life in Beijing ready for the 6-17 September event
which will use the same venues as the Olympics nearly two weeks previously.
New Zealand team Chef De Mission, Duane Kale says the whole process of getting into the village was very smooth as the
team prepares for the opening ceremony on Saturday 6 September.
“It was an incredibly efficient process of moving the team through and into the village. We had two days in a
pre-opening whereby we got set up prior to the first athletes arriving. During that time management were able to give
the village a New Zealand look and feel,” he said.
Kale who was a four-time gold medalist at the Atlanta Paralympics believes the who atmosphere of the village is growing
by the day and that facilities were second-to-none.
“The village is starting to establish its own atmosphere as more and more people arrive. Food hall is sensational, with
more variety coming on stream each day. We have established contact with the Kiwi who heads up the catering facility.
The local assistants are very helpful throughout the games village.”
Initially the weather was a little closed in but there has been some blue sky since the arrival of the bulk of the team.
The only small issue for the team was with the swimmers who have had training facilities which had been heating up a
little too much, but even that was a minor distraction which has been quickly sorted out.
The first athletes to compete for New Zealand are on day 1, Sunday 7 September are in Boccia round robin – Liam Sanders,
Kerri Bonner, Jeremy Morriss, Maurice Toon, Henk Dijstra, Greig Jackson, Amanda Slade and in Cycling the tandem of Jayne
Parsons and Annaliisa Farrell.
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