Five of the six newly-elected members of the Athletes' Council of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) entered the National Stadium on Wednesday night at the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympics.

They are David Smetanine of France, Heinz Frei of Switzerland, Marketa Sidkova of Czech Republic, Teresa Perales of Spain, and Yu Chui-yee of Hong Kong, China.

They presented flower bouquets to 12 volunteers of the Beijing 2008 Paralympics. The 12 represented some 44,000 volunteers working at the Games venues and more than 1.4 million others who helped the host city in security, transport, information and lodging services.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2008)