Craven: can't wait for London Paralympics to start

LONDON - Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee expressed his high expectations for the upcoming London Paralympics here on Sunday.

Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee, take an interview with the media in the news center of the London Paralympics on Aug 26. [Photo/Xinhua]

"I just can't wait for it to start," Craven said in an interview with Xinhua. "It's just to see great sports, like the great performances four years ago in Beijing. I hope it will also happen here in London."

Craven praised the preparation work by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

"I'm very satisfied with the preparations. That's great teamwork. We had 7-year-long partnership with the LOCOG and that's very difficult to work together for so long time. You can't look eye to eye all the time. And there can be problems, but we have time to solve them. So I'm very happy."

Craven believed that the LOCOG had made the utmost use of the Paralympics budget, he said: "In my observation, they have maximized the benefits of the money they raised. They made it the UK Games, not only the London Games."

With regards to the ticket sales, Craven said that he is very confident based on the experiences of the London Olympics where empty seats are often seen during the matches.

"I'm confident that all the 2.7 million tickets (the maximum number) will be sold out. One can learn from the past experiences, and I don't think it will be a major problem."

Talking about the Chinese team's reigning power, Craven expected other teams like Britain to challenge the Paralympic powerhouse, which led the medal table both in Athens and Beijing.

"Paralympic sporting in China is developed for the last 10-20 years. China is pretty serious about Paralympic sport, and that is also why you have been so successful for the past two Paralympics.

"Now other countries may say: hey, we can't let China be at the top alone. And they are coming up with this. I think it's good for the world and good for competition, and sports is about competition," he added.