(AFP) – Oct 2, 2007

SHANGHAI (AFP) — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Yao Ming helped kick off the Special Olympics World Summer Games here on Tuesday for a record 7,300 mentally disabled athletes.

The Californian governor and the Houston Rockets basketball star were among the stars from the worlds of sport, politics and the arts at the opening ceremony at the Shanghai Stadium presided over by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Schwarzenegger, whose wife is the daughter of the Special Olympics founder and the sister its current chairman, spoke of his "pride" at attending China's first-ever staging of a major sports event for people with mental disabilities.

"I used to play in action movies as the action hero, but that was actually nothing that can be compared with the real action that is taking place in this stadium," said the Terminator star.

Earlier, Hu told the event's chairman Timothy Shriver holding it in China, which has 9.8 million disabled people, would contribute to the development of the international Special Olympics cause.

"China hopes the Games would help the world better understand China, and strengthen the friendship between people of China and the rest of the world," he said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Yao Ming missed the start of the basketball season to attend the ceremony, incurring a fine from his club. "It's worth it. Nothing is more important than doing things for the Special Olympics," he told Xinhua.

Several well-known musicians lent their talents to make the event a success, state media reported.

Tai Dun, the Oscar-winning composer for the kung fu movie Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, had composed a new piece for the opening ceremony, according to the China Daily.

The event's theme song, meanwhile, was composed by American musician Quincy Jones, a multiple Grammy winner.

Shanghai is prone to rain in early October, and the city's "rain suppression squad", a unit of the city's Meteorological Bureau, was preparing for any downpour that might hit the venue.

Thirteen launch sites for rain-suppression rockets had been established in the surrounding provinces, according to Xinhua.

The Games organisers have said a record 7,300 athletes from 164 countries and regions will compete in 21 medal sports and four demonstration competitions.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »