Czech Paralympic Games FDC

Czech Republic FDC
Name: Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games
Date of Issue: 18 June 2008

Handicapped sportsmen in the Czech Republic are registered in sport clubs including more than 17,500 members. The best of them will participate in the XIIIth Summer Paralympic Games which will be held in Beijing on September 6-17, 2008. Paralympic games are the top competition for top sportsmen with different handicaps. The key philosophy behind the paralympic movement is that these world sportsmen have abilities and experience equal to their healthy counterparts and that like them, the handicapped ones have to undergo strict qualifications and selection to get into national teams. The First Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960, only several weeks after the XVIIth Olympic Games in Rome. They were attended by 400 athletes from 23 countries. The initial actors of the paralympiad were only wheelchair sportsmen. As the paralympic movement developed they were joined by sportsmen with other handicaps. The last paralympiad was held in Athens in 2004 where the Czech representatives won altogether 31 medals (16-8-7). The postage stamp features archery. The competitors, including blind archers, are divided into categories according to the degree and type of handicap.

Estonia 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Gold Medalist Autographed FDC
Estonia 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Silver Medalists Autographed Postal Stationery

2008 Beijing Olympic Games FDCs:
Algeria, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Estonia Sheetlet, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hong Kong M/S, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Portugal M/S, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Ukraine.

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games FDCs:
Czech Republic, Slovakia.

Czech Olympic Games FDC

Czech Republic FDC
Name: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Date of Issue: 18 June 2008

The XXIXth Summer Olympic Games will be held in China on August 8-24, 2008. Most competitions will be held directly at Beijing. Yachting competitions will be held in Qingdao, equestrian competitions in Hong Kong, football matches in Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao. Ready for the winners are 302 sets of medals in 28 sports. New disciplines include, e.g. BMX bike discipline or the so-called swimming marathon. The postage stamp features the athletic discipline Discus Throw Women.

Comment: If I don't make the mistake, the prototype of the stamp and FDC's illustration is Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová. I think she is not the most famous athlete in Czech Republic, Czech Post uses her figure because the Discus Throw is the symbol of the Olympic Games. Am I right?

Estonia 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Gold Medalist Autographed FDC
Estonia 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Silver Medalists Autographed Postal Stationery

2008 Beijing Olympic Games FDCs:
Algeria, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Estonia Sheetlet, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hong Kong M/S, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Portugal M/S, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Ukraine.

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games FDCs:
Czech Republic, Slovakia.