TRANSCRIPTION
During the Paralympic Games in Seoul, the speaker was impressed by the fact that they were able to use the same facilities as the regular Olympic Games. The housing, sports facilities, and on-site reception were all the same. The speaker had good relations with the International Olympic Committee and was a member of the technical committee of the Paralympic Committee. The opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the sport facilities, were the same as the Olympics. The Games had a lot of public support and many people came to watch the matches. The speaker remembers a tough competition between Iran and the Netherlands in the sitting volleyball tournament. The public got involved and cheered for the teams. It was a good experience, but the speaker found it a little strange that people were forced to attend.
I was there, and the most beautiful thing about that was it was one of the first times that we were together in the same facilities as the facilities of the normal Olympic Games. So that was a very nice thing to see, we had the same housing, we had the same sports facilities, and we had the same on-site reception from all the people over there, and especially it was mostly a kind of a religion kind of thing.
So it was a very nice feeling because of the little small housing over there, but the Korean always has not that big housing, but with apartments over there. It was a very good and nice performance, and it was a very good performance because of also the transportation over there was very well, because they used everything the normal Olympic Games used that too. Yes, for me it was an eye-opener, because we got very good relations with the IOC group.
Personally at that time I was also a member of the technical committee of IPC, the Paralympic Committee, so we had a formal contact with all the sports officers in Seoul who also organized the Olympic Games. The same officers organized also the Paralympic Games. There was a lot of experience in our organization, and we could use also the facilities, the sport facilities, the same facilities as was used in the Olympics. It was the same opening ceremony, it was the same closing ceremony, the sport facilities were the same, the housing was the same, so there was nothing to complain.
And I think it was one of the best Paralympics we had. I see still the parachutes people over there flying into the big stadium over there during the opening from the Games. And what about the competition itself? You had both sitting and standing. Yes, I don’t know nothing about standing, but sitting was a very good tournament and it ended in the Games between Iran and the Netherlands, and they became first and we became second, but it was a really tough competition at that time.
And you were playing or team manager then? I was playing. You were playing then. So what sort of things do you remember from that Games? Well, it’s not only because of the technical kind of view, but also because of the way they organized it that a lot of people came to the Games. They were invited from factories, they were invited from schools, they were invited from everywhere, so they get a lot of public during the Games and during the matches over there.
So there were always a lot of people cheering and shouting and supporting the teams during the matches. It was a good feeling to have such a lot of people, but it was also a little bit strange to know that they are always a little bit forced to come over there to see and watch you. So were they passive or were they into the sport? Were they cheering at points or were they like, some school children are like, I don’t want to be in class, or were they really…
No, they got involved because they saw that it was a good and very intensive match and then they saw the possibilities and how you call it, the fact that it’s a nice kind of sport to do and saw the problems they have and they solved it at that time. It was a very good thing to see.