Plans for the Seoul 2015 IBSA World Games and World Championships are fitting into place as the local organising committee releases the official emblems for the event and hosts a start-up ceremony featuring two local celebrities.

The World Games and Championships will feature around 1 000 blind and partially sighted athletes competing in ten disciplines – athletics, swimming, judo, goalball, blind football, partially sighted football, ten-pin bowling, showdown, powerlifting and chess – and will be held in the Korean capital from May 8th to May 18th 2015.

Banner for the games

Games logo

The games logo (above) shows an athlete made up of braille dots. For the blind, braille is a key method to communicate with others and light to be recognizedin society. The star above the athlete's head represents hope.

The colours used in the emblem have the following significance:

Purple – love, enthusiasm
Yellow – hope for the future, positive spirit
Green – peace, vitality
Blue – trust and belief of the athletes

The three mascots for the Seoul 2015 IBSA World Games and World Championships

The mascots for Seoul 2015 are three characters: Haechi (in the middle above) is the official mascost of Seoul, the host city. The otter (left) and eagle-owl (right) are endangered native animals that reflect the geographical characterictics of Seoul and stand for minorities which are to be conserved, as a metaphor for persons with disabilities in general and, more specifically, people with a visual impairment.

Games slogan 

The games slogan is ‘See with Passion, Run with Hope!’. It signifies encouragement to see and feel a bigger world and run towards a hopeful future with passion beyond visual impairment.

Games launch

The Local Organising Committee for the Seoul 2015 IBSA World Games and World Championships held a start-up event last Tuesday to present the event.

During the event, staged at the Seoul City Club in Yeouido, actor Kim Bo-sung and actress Ku Hye-sun were appointed goodwill ambassadors for the games.

Launch ceremony. Image shows (left to right) Kim Bo-ung, Sohn Nyung-doo and Ku Hye-sun.

LOC Chair Mr Sohn Byung-doo said, "We will try our best to make the games an event where people with and without disabilities will achieve harmony.”

The Seoul 2015 IBSA World Games and World Championships will be the fifth edition of the event. The first was held in Madrid in 1998, followed by Quebec 2003, Sao Paulo 2007 and Antalya 2011.