Australia will be sending 170 disabled athletes for the Beijing Paralympics 2008 on Monday.

A total of 472 medals are up for grabs in the Paralympic Games which will commence on the 6th of September 2008, this Saturday.

Sport Minister Kate Ellis said Australian Paralympians had collected 908 medals from Paralympic competition in the past 48 years.

“This is the largest ever Paralympic team to compete overseas and I am greatly looking forward to celebrating their success in Beijing,” Ms Ellis said.

“Every Australian state and territory will be represented.”

Via The Age

In this cute Coke commercial, animated Yao and LeBron pull out cartoony symbols of the US and China.

Fiona of QuirkyBeijing and CNReviews on what’s next for post-Olympics China.

- Human rights: Despite the high-profile sentences of two elderly women to labor re-education after they applied for protest permits, one Italian expatriate living in Beijing wanted to show the world that it was possible to protest. It wasn鈥檛. The United States sent in a strongly-worded statement to the Chinese goverment about human rights; China鈥檚 response from a Foreign Ministry spokesman creatively invokes Abraham Lincoln. The ongoing discussion and debate on China鈥檚 human rights record is sure to continue.

In the immediate future, one beneficiary of the Olympics is the Paralympics鈥搘ith the passion for spectator sports fairly undiminished, tickets for events have been going quickly. One loser? Olympic souvenir collectors, the value of official souvenirs is falling rapidly.

Via What next? China in the post-Olympics age

Winners of the XIII Paralympic Games from Azerbaijan will get top dollars from their government. An Azeri champion will get AZN 200,000, with his coach receiving AZN 100,000.

The presidential press-service informed that the Azeri winner will get AZN 200,000 and his trainer AZN 100,000. Silver prize-winner will get AZN 100,000, his trainer AZN 50,000, bronze prize-winner AZN 50,000 and his trainer AZN 25,000.

Via ABC.az

The Lucky Cloud (绁ヤ簯) torch is fired up again to mark the relay of the Beijing Paralympic Games 2008 in China. The Paralympic Games will be held on the 6th to the 17th of September, a 10-day special sporting event.

Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee, said at the ceremony: “The flame will symbolize over the next 10 days the unique sporting spirit displayed by Paralympic athletes.

“This spirit can overcome many obstacles in the search for sporting excellence.”

The relay will be run over two separate routes: Ancient China and Modern China.

The Ancient relay begins today in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, while the Modern route starts on Saturday from Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

Via China Daily

The lightning Usian Bolt could have smash world record at 9.52 seconds instead of 9.69 seconds. Why? He took some little second to celebrate, that’s all.

Triple Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Usain Bolt could have run the 100 metres in 9.52 seconds if he had not slowed to celebrate, his coach said on Wednesday. Glen Mills said Bolt, who electrified Beijing with his sprint victories, was at the start of his 100 career and would peak only in about two years’ time.

Via Guardian

The baton has been passed to London which will host the London Olympics 2012. Here’s a little promotional video on London.

Are you suffering from the Olympic Syndrome? Feeling lost, sad, helpless after the Beijing Olympics is gone for good?

You are not alone as many Chinese sports fans have suffered the same syndrome but the experts are dishing out 3 tips to make your real life wonderful again.

Getting more rest, participating in outdoor activities rather than watching them, and making more friends were three potential cures.

We hope you get over it. Don’t become us…

Via AFP

This article  ‘One thing is clear: you cannot protest legally in China’ from the Chicago Tribune is worth reading, but the short version is this:

77 applications were filed to protest in designated protest zones during the Olympics.

74 were voluntarily withdrawn after their problems “were properly addressed by relevant authorities.”

3 were denied.

Looks like the joggers and tai chi-ers had Ritan Park to themselves.

(Thanks, PandaPassport!)