table of contents - home page - text-only home page Fallout from the Olympics & Paralympics On November 15, the Australian Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission ordered the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) to pay Bruce Maguire $20,000 in compensation for the hurt and humiliation he experienced as a result of the failure of the SOCOG to make the Olympic website fully accessible. Mr. Maguire, who is blind, lodged a complaint in 1999 stating that the SOCOG website was inaccessible to him. Commissioner Carter who heard the complaint on 24 August 2000, found for Mr. Maguire and declared that "the respondent should do all that is necessary to make the website accessible . . . by 15 September 2000. . ." The full decision can be found on the Commission's homepage: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/decisions/comdec/comdec.html Landmark Agreement In a more cooperative spirit, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee signed a landmark cooperation agreement in Sydney on October 20. At the Olympic Stadium signing, IOC President Juan Samaranch pledged financial assistance and administrative support to the IPC and the Paralympics. IPC President Robert Steadward welcomed the agreement as an important milestone for the acceptance of the Paralympic movement by mainstream sports. Samaranch also announced that, "For 2008 in Athens, there will be one contract for the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games." The IOC reportedly will pay $1.6 million for IPC administration and development over the next four years; contribute $250,000 to support attendance of Paralympians from developing countries to attend the Athens Games; and contribute $80,000 for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games for disabled athletes. Details: www.wemedia.com BBC Notes Passion at the Paralympics The venerable BBC, filing daily stories about the Paralympics, could not resist reporting on October 26 that "the Paralympians have been breaking records in the bedroom - after a whopping 50,000 condoms were snapped up at the Sydney Games." A statistics geek figured out that this number equated to an average of about 7 condoms per athlete or official staying in the Games village. Not wanting to leave any detail to the imagination, the BBC report also noted that during the Games, "condoms and lubricants of all colors and flavors were stored in a giant goldfish bowl in the medical center, refilled every day." table of contents - home page - text-only home page