Disabled Athletes to Converge on Sydney LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Starting Oct. 18 - just 17 days after the closing of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Australia - 4,000 world-class disabled athletes from 125 countries will seek to prove their mettle and win medals at the Paralympic Games in Sydney.

It's the premier proving ground for athletes who have already conquered many of the physical challenges posed by amputations, impaired vision, cerebral palsy, paraplegia, quadriplegia or intellectual limitations. They'll compete in 18 sports against other athletes with similar disabilities and functional abilities. Many will also use high-tech versions of the equipment sold by home medical equipment providers.

Here, you'll find some fast facts about the 2000 Paralympic Games. To learn more about the Games and the athletes, log on to www.sydney.paralympic.org.

& Invacare of Elyria, Ohio, will sponsor an international team of athletes in track and field events, quad rugby, basketball and tennis. The competitors will use specially designed chairs to fit their sport, said company spokeswoman Susan Elder. For example, track and field athletes will use the Top-End racing chair, the Eliminator, while tennis ace Stephen Welch will compete in one of Invacare's tennis chairs. Some athletes who are not part of Team Invacare will also use the company's products in competition, Elder said. For more information - and daily updates on the Paralympics - go to www.invacare.com.

& Sunrise Medical of Longmont, Colo., will sponsor 75 Paralympic athletes from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States under the banner Team Sunrise. The athletes have qualified for their own countries' teams in basketball, tennis, track and field, and quad rugby; they will compete with specially designed Sunrise products, such as Quickie and Sopur wheelchairs. The company is also sponsoring nine of the 12 athletes on the U.S. basketball team, including top player David Kiley, who will use a Quickie All-Court chair. In addition, Sunrise will outfit its team with clothing, signature postcards and other specialty items, according to spokeswoman Marilyn Hamilton.

& Otto Bock of Minneapolis is supporting the world's disabled athletes as a "Paralympic Partner."

& Tyco International, which is in the process of purchasing Mallinckrodt of Hazelwood, Mo., is officially a Team Millennium Olympics Supporter.

The word Paralympics comes from the Greek word for parallel and was coined for the 1960 Games in Rome because they were the first to be held in the same venue as the Olympic Games. The Paralympics grew out of the Stoke Mandeville Games, which Sir Ludwig Guttman started in Stoke Mandeville, England, for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries. These first Games coincided with the 1948 London Olympics.