Logo of Beijing Olympics Volunteer Recruitment.[filephoto]

More than 99 per cent of residents polled in the capital knew about the event and nearly 80 per cent of them are willing to work as volunteers for the Games, according to the survey conducted by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Beijing Disabled Persons Federation. BOCOG is the first Olympic organization to simultaneously organize a summer Olympic Games and a Paralympic Games.

The survey from April to July covered a sample of more than 2,000 Beijing residents aged between 18 and 60 from all walks of life, and 24 of the respondents were persons with a disability.

Television is the leading way for people to get to know about the Paralympics, with more than 33 per cent of the respondents saying they mainly relied on the source to get related information, followed by 21.9 per cent who listed newspapers and 21.1 per cent who cited the Internet.

Although nearly all Beijing residents know about the Paralympic Games, only about 56 per cent are interested in it, according to the survey. Among those who are interested, 58 per cent said they follow it because of the inspiration that athletes with a disability can bring to them; 22 per cent said because they enjoyed watching sports matches; and 18 per cent said because of their concern and compassion towards people with a disability.

About 78.8 per cent of the respondents expressed their willingness to become Paralympic volunteers. However, half of them are worried that they do not have basic knowledge and necessary skills of how to support athletes with a disability, such as how to communicate with people who cannot hear, how to guide the visually impaired, or how to help push a wheelchair.

Just over 44 per cent said, however, they would find difficulty in finding the time to help.

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