Manama, Bahrain, June 18, 2020: The Asian Paralympic Committee announced on Wednesday, June 17, that the fourth Asian Youth Para Games will take place in Bahrain from December 1-10, 2021.
The event is being jointly organised by the National Paralympic Committee of Bahrain and the Kingdom’s government.
An estimated 800 athletes under 20 years of age are expected to compete in nine sports: athletics, badminton, boccia, goalball, para taekwondo, powerlifting, swimming, table tennis and wheelchair basketball.
The Games will take place across numerous venues in Khalifa Sports City, a multi-use stadium in Isa town, and Isa Sports City, the national indoor sports facility.
APC President Majid Rashed commented: “The APC’s new vision is to ‘Make for an inclusive Asia through para-sport’ and I can think of no better place to start achieving that than with the region’s youth.
“We are delighted that the National Paralympic Committee of Bahrain has put together such a strong bid to host the next Asian Youth Para Games and we offer our thanks to them and their government for supporting the next generation of Asian para-athletes.”
He added: “Providing opportunities for young para-athletes to compete in a multi-sport environment will hopefully inspire them to continue on their sporting journey which may ultimately lead to the Paralympic Games.”
This will be the first time that Bahrain will host such a large-scale para-sport event. Dubai hosted the last Asian Youth Para Games in 2017 with Kuala Lumpur in 2013 and Tokyo in 2009 the previous hosts.
The Chairman of the Bahrain Paralympic Committee, Shaikh Mohammed bin Duaji Al Khalifa, said: “We are proud and honoured to have won the bid to host the 2021 Asian Youth Para Games in Bahrain. This is a testament to our mission of providing the infrastructure for people with impairments to continue integrating them into society, nurture their abilities and position our nation at the forefront of the Paralympic Movement.”
Source: Asian Paralympic Committee