The 13th Paralympics got underway in Beijing today with all the glitz and glamour of the main summer games. There was disquiet amongst some of the competitors though as it would appear the designers of the Birds Nest stadium had omitted to install wheelchair ramps.
"I can play basketball as well as the next person" said Barry Walters of Team GB "but I can't climb a flight of 100 stairs. You would think it would have occurred to them to put a ramp in."
A spokesman for the Chinese Olympic committee said "We Chinese do not have a great record in being sympathetic to the disabled. I feel we are upholding that long tradition."
