25 Feb 2014

IPC confident Sochi will be ready for Winter Paralympics

5:56 am on 25 February 2014

The International Paralympic Committee is confident that all the venues due to host the Sochi Winter Paralympics will be fully accessible before the start of competition on March 7th.

The Olympic Games came to an end with a spectacular closing ceremony in Sochi yesterday and venues now face a transition period to be ready.

Spokesman Craig Spence says they hope the accessibility will be improved by the start of the Games.

He says Russia has a zero track record in terms of accessibility and they have had to get up to speed in seven years but they're confident and expect everything to be ready for Games time.

Around 700 athletes from more than 40 countries are due to take part in the Games which includes five sports - alpine skiing, sledge hockey, wheelchair curling, biathlon and cross-country skiing.

It will be the first time Russia has hosted a Paralympic Games, the Soviet Union having opted not to host the 1980 Summer Paralympics, claiming there were no people with disabilities in the country.