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SHANGHAI: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Yao Ming helped
kick off the Special Olympics World Summer Games here on Tuesday for
a record 7,300 mentally disabled athletes.
The Californian governor and the
Houston Rockets basketball star were among the stars from the worlds
of sport, politics and the arts at the opening ceremony at the
Shanghai Stadium presided over by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Schwarzenegger, whose wife is the
daughter of the Special Olympics founder and the sister its current
chairman, spoke of his “pride” at attending China’s first-ever
staging of a major sports event for people with mental disabilities.
Earlier, Hu told the event’s
chairman Timothy Shriver holding it in China, which has 9.8 million
disabled people, would contribute to the development of the
international Special Olympics cause.
“China hopes the Games would
help the world better understand China, and strengthen the
friendship between people of China and the rest of the world,” he
said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Yao Ming missed the start of the
basketball season to attend the ceremony, incurring a fine from his
club. “It’s worth it. Nothing is more important than doing
things for the Special Olympics,” he told Xinhua.
The Games organizers have said a
record 7,300 athletes from 164 countries and regions will compete in
21 medal sports and four demonstration competitions.
--AFP
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