Paralympics 'More than Just Sport, About Social Inclusion' -- ATRadio

(ATR) International Paralympic Committee presidential candidate John Petersson identifies several areas where the Paralympic Movement can improve in the latest edition of ATRadio.

Petersson, a former European Paralympic Committees president and current IPC Governing Board member, tells Around the Rings that challenges such as building better relations with the Olympic Movement and helping more countries gain Paralympic recognition are two of his top priorities.

"The most important issue is to assist those NPCs who are not recognized or supported by the government," he says. "I will be there. I will go there and help them to get this recognition and acceptance from the government.

"It’s more than just sport, it’s about social inclusion."

If elected as IPC president at the IPC General Assembly in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Sep. 8, Petersson says he will immediately fly to Lima to speak with IOC president Thomas Bach about improving the relationship between the IOC and IPC

"The biggest challenge for me is the relation with the IOC," Petersson tells ATR. "We need to bring it back to a good and collaborative level where we can assist and learn from each other. The Paralympic Movement has a lot of values we can share with the Paralympic Movement."

Petersson is competing with Patrick Jarvis, Andrew Parsons and Haidi Zhang to become the next IPC president at the Sep. 8 election.

Listen to the full interview with Petersson below to learn more about his goals for the Paralympic Movement.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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