Paralympics: Samaranch predicts second success for Sydney

12:30 PM

SYDNEY - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch arrived in Sydney on Tuesday for the Paralympic Games, which open today, saying they would be a great success.

Samaranch, who was met at the airport by Olympics and Paralympics Minister Michael Knight, said he was not here to work although he would attend some functions.

At the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics of October 1, he described them as the best ever.

"I think the Paralympic Games will be a great success because it is the same organizers and volunteers which made the Sydney Games successful," Samaranch told reporters.

Thursday, Samaranch will present the people of Sydney with the Olympic Cup, a non-competitive IOC award founded in 1906, honoring their outstanding contribution to the Olympics.

Australian sporting heroes Kieren Perkins and Steve Waugh were back in action with the torch Tuesday as the people of Sydney welcomed the Paralympic flame.

The flame crossed the arch of the Harbor Bridge, which no longer sports the five Olympic rings, in the midst of a downpour.

But the clouds parted as Waugh, the Australian cricket captain, took the flame from Circular Quay and passed it on to singer Marcia Hines at the Opera House.

Double Olympic gold medallist swimmer Perkins received the flame on the Opera House steps, jogging through the Botanic Gardens.

He told reporters Paralympians and Olympians inspired each other.

"They probably look to the able-bodied athletes for inspiration with the achievements that we have, but I tell you what, the things that they do, far outweigh anything we do," Perkins said.

Swimming great Dawn Fraser handed the torch to wheelchair athlete Louise Sauvage, the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, who carried it for the last sector of the relay run to the Town Hall cauldron.

Paralympic officials announced Tuesday that the closing ceremony on October 29 was sold out, with a crowd of 87,000 to attend.

Wednesday night's opening ceremony, featuring singer Kylie Minogue, is also a sell-out.

More than 800,000 tickets have been sold for the Games.

- REUTERS

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