Special Olympics Torch Arrives In China

The Special Olympics torch for the mentally-challenged Olympic Games to be staged in Shanghai next month arrived in the Chinese capital, Beijing, last Tuesday after a year of travelling around the world.

The Special Olympics for the mentally-challenged sportsmen and sportswomen is organised along Olympic lines and affords participants the chance to also compete and feel capable.

The Flame of Hope, so named to bring some hope and encouragement to the Special Olympics participants, travelled through many countries including London, Egypt, Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul and arrived in Beijing for a national tour before it finally reaches Shanghai to light the perpetual Olympic flame as a sign of goodwill and hope for the competition which starts next week.

Teams for the competition have started arriving in China. Ghana has competed in this competition once, in the late 1990s.

Meanwhile, world athletes also began arriving in Shanghai for the Shanghai Athletics Grand Prix which begins tomorrow. Among the stars who have already arrived are world female pole vault champion, Russia's Yelena Isinbiyeva, world 400m champion, Allen Johnson of the US, and Sanya Richards, also an American who is dominant in the sprints and 400m events.

The other athletes, who are engaged in various competitions in Europe at the moment, were expected to arrive late last night for the competition which is one of the major Grand Prix on the International Athletics Associations Federation's (IAAF) calendar.