2008 ASEAN Para Games

4th ASEAN Para Games

Motto	Friendship, Equality, Opportunity
Nations participating	11
Events	486 in 14 sports
Opening ceremony	20 January 2008
Closing ceremony	26 January 2008
Officially opened by	Surayud Chulanont
Ceremony venue	80th Birthday Stadium
Website	2008 ASEAN Para Games
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The 2008 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the 4th ASEAN Para Games, was a multi-sport event held in Thailand's Nakhon Ratchasima province from 20 to 26 January 2008 for athletes with physical disabilities from ASEAN member nations. This was the sixth time Thailand host the Southeast Asian Games, but its first as host of the ASEAN Para Games.

Delegations from Southeast Asian countries participated the games which contested 14 sports with 486 gold medals won by participating athletes. The 4th ASEAN Para Games sports included archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, chess, fencing, goalball, judo, powerlifting, shooting, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. With the previous edition, the 2005 ASEAN Para Games being held in Manila, Philippines, Thailand is the fourth nation to host the games after Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.^[1]

The final medal tally was led by host Thailand, followed by Malaysia and Vietnam. Several Asian, games and national records were broken during the games. The games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of disabled sports competition amongst the Southeast Asian nations.

Organisation

Venues

The 4th ASEAN Para Games had 14 venues for the games.

Marketing

Logo and mascot

Nok-Kao Karom, Official Mascot of the 4th ASEAN Para Games

The logo of the 2008 ASEAN Para Games is the Chumpol Gate, a historical place in Nakorn Ratchasima, Thailand. Chumpol Gate represents victory. It also denotes the exquisite Thai art and culture. Curvy blue and red lines represent the pageantry of fluttering flags leading eager, excited athletes marching into the stadium. The ASEAN Para Sports Federation logo sits in the center of the emblem, representing friendship and co-operation between participants from ASEAN countries.^[2]

The mascot of the 2008 ASEAN Para Games, is a type of dove named Nok-Khao karom which is recognised as a symbol of Nakhon Ratchasima Province. Nok-Khao Karom is a local animal name of Nakhon Ratchasima for dove. Karom is described as a wise, cheerful, gentle, and friendly, reflecting the characteristics of Thai people. The name of the dove is also the abbreviation of the games' values namely, Kind, Appreciation, Reliable, Optimistic, and Manners.^[3]

Sponsors

The games

Participating nations

Sports

Medal table

A total of 1050 medals comprising 486 gold medals, 320 silver medals and 244 bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The Host Thailand's performance was their best ever yet in ASEAN Para Games History and emerged as overall champion of the games.

Key

  *   Host nation (Thailand)

2008 ASEAN Para Games medal table

Rank	NPC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thailand (THA)*	256	109	84	449
2	Malaysia (MAS)	82	74	46	202
3	Vietnam (VIE)	78	66	43	187
4	Indonesia (INA)	33	25	18	76
5	Philippines (PHI)	17	21	21	59
6	Myanmar (MYA)	12	11	12	35
7	Singapore (SIN)	6	8	5	19
8	Brunei (BRU)	2	4	10	16
9	Laos (LAO)	0	1	3	4
10	Cambodia (CAM)	0	1	0	1
11	Timor-Leste (TLS)	0	0	2	2
Total (11 NPCs)		486	320	244	1050

See also

• 2007 Southeast Asian Games

References

External links

• 4th ASEAN PARA Games, Archive.org mirror of official website
• Support website