Incheon Asian Para Games to kick off on Saturday

People can watch all different sports free of charge at the upcoming 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games. They should not take the sports lightly just because these sports are competitions between the handicapped. It is a great opportunity for fans to witness records set by handicapped athletes that are as impressive as those by ordinary elite athletes in such sports as shooting and archery.

Newly introduced sports are wheelchair dance and wheelchair rugby. Wheelchair dance is not an official sport at the Paralympics, but wheelchair rugby has been an official Paralympic sport since the Sydney event in 2000. Wheelchair dance is a sport that anyone who has enjoyed dancing can find attractive and enjoyable. Wheelchair rugby entails physical struggle that is most intense among the sports played by the disabled. People who watch it will naturally be impressed and amazed by the sport.

The 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games marks the 11th event of its kind. A total of 10 such events have taken place through the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Para Games since the first event in Oita Prefecture, Japan in 1975. Unlike in the Paralympics, which the host city of Olympic Games is obliged to host under an agreement between the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, the host city of Asian Games is not obliged to play host to Asian Para Games.

This year’s event will feature 19 sports that are played at Paralympics including archery, boccia, and goalball, and four sports that are not performed at Paralympics including lawn balls and badminton.

A total of 726 gold and silver medals (considering one medal per one group sport) and 840 bronze medals are up for grabs. Unlike other international competitions, players ranking third and fourth can jointly win medals, and thus the number of bronze medals at stake is larger than that of gold and silver medals.

Venues of sports in the Asian Para Games are different from those for the recent Asian Games. The only events that spectators have to pay entrance fees in the upcoming feast are the opening and closing ceremonies.