During IBSA's V Assembly, the World Blind Sports Championships, Madrid '98, were officially presented. The Spanish delegation outlined the project. These Championships aim to establish themselves as a top-level sporting event midway between editions of the consolidated Paralympics which are held just after the Olympic Games.

MADRID '98

he Spanish delegation, comprising Felipe Ponce, as executive vice-president, Eugenia Martín, director general, Alberto Jofre, former Paralympic athlete and sports consultant, and Pablo Camiña, Communications manager, presented their project for the World Blind Sports Championships, Madrid '98, in Casablanca. The Championships will be held in July next year. This event represents a landmark in the history of our sport. Well aware of this fact, the Spanish Blind Sports Federation, as member of IBSA, wishes to accept the challenge of organising this event.

For the first time, world championships will be held in different sports (Athletics, Swimming, Goalball and Judo) for the blind, all at the same venue and at the same moment in time. The athletes will be competing in the sports installations of the Spanish National Sports Council (C.S.D.).

The organisation and running of this event will undoubtedly serve as a reference point for future editions. In principle, the organisation has the institutional support of the Madrid City Council, the government of the Autonomous Region of Madrid, the Spanish National Sports Council and the International Olympic Committee, amongst others.

One of the most important projects is "Volunteers '98", which aims to recruit the human resources needed to support the organisation and, at the same time, provides a high degree of added value as a promotional element. Moreover, it is hoped that this project will become a permanent feature, and continue to serve the interests of blind sports. At the moment, a year before the start of this event, there are already more than 400 applications to form part of what we hope will be a success, both as regards public attendance and the repercussion in the mass media and specialised sports media.

WORLD BLIND SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

For the first time, the challenge is accepted to run simultaneous world championships for the blind in Athletics, Swimming, Judo and Goalball

PICHI

OFFICIAL MASCOT OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The W.C. '98 will consist of the fully integrated celebration of the World Championships in four sporting disciplines. The following events and categories are those that, provisionally, will be included: Initial forecasts for the level of participation predict nearly 1,000 people, between athletes and accompanying persons. They will be approximately divided as follows, by sports: The dates chosen are for the period from July 18th to 26th, 1998. The scheduled programme for some of the most important events is, provisionally, as follows: The definitive competition calendar must be prepared by IBSA in conjunction with the Organising Committee of the W.C. '98Venues for competitions and ceremonies:

ORGANISATION

D. Felipe Ponce Vice-president

D. Eugenio Martín Director General

D. Manuel Menéndez Administration Manager

D. Pau Serracanta Sports Director

D. Pablo Camiña Communications Manager

PRESTIGIOUS NAMES

The advance of History is, always, the fruit of the efforts and the decision of its protagonists. Challenges of the magnitude of the international development of sports for the blind and visually impaired therefore demand the concurrence and commitment of great men and of the institutions they represent.

Such is the case of HRH Felipe de Borbón, Prince of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne and thoroughly committed - as is the whole Royal family - to the world of sport, with a special interest in those sports practised by disabled persons. As a further example of this attitude, Prince Felipe has accepted the role of Honorary Chairman of the I World Championships for the blind and visually impaired which IBSA will be holding in Madrid in July next year. His presence will provide an additional guarantee of the success of this event, which will witness, for the very first time, combined championships in Athletics, Swimming, Judo and Goalball.

The international nature of such an initiative, however, would have been somewhat diminished, both in terms of projection and significance, were it not for the support of another universal Spaniard - the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch. In a firm commitment to the future of blind sports, the IOC has decided to support these Madrid '98 Championships with its patronage, thus affording them a prestige that will, undoubtedly, positively influence the levels of participation and the importance of the sporting results.

And the triangle is completed with the third vertex: that of the Spanish organisers, represented by the director general of the ONCE, Enrique Servando Sánchez, whose commitment to the development of our sports is nothing new. Madrid '98 merely serves to reiterate once again the tradition of international solidarity ever-present in the ONCE, something unrivalled in this sector and of which IBSA has ample evidence, through the actions carried out in Latin America as well as in sub-Saharan African countries and other places around the world.

¡THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR MAKING OUR SPORT A REALITY!