The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has named Otto Bock, Duderstadt, Germany, as the official prosthetic, orthotic, and wheelchair technical services provider for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Otto Bock has joined London, England-based supermarket chain Sainsbury’s as the second Paralympic-only sponsor.
Working with LOCOG, Otto Bock will provide athletes competing in the London 2012 Paralympic Games with immediate repairs to orthoses, prostheses, and wheelchairs at repair centers at the three Paralympic Village sites. Otto Bock will also create and manage smaller repair centers and mobile units at other selected competition venues.
“The appointment of Otto Bock demonstrates our approach to staging the Games – keeping athletes at the center of everything,” LOCOG Commercial Director Chris Townsend said in an International Paralympic Committee (IPC) press release. “Otto Bock brings significant experience… ensuring those athletes coming to the London 2012 Paralympic Games have a magnificent experience and are able to compete at their optimum levels.”
“We are delighted with this news and very much look forward to making the 2012 Paralympic Games a huge success for London,” commented Chairman and CEO of Otto Bock, Professor Hans Georg Näder. “The types of sporting events and competitor levels within them are growing constantly, so the challenge for our team of technicians is to ensure the best possible care for all athletes to help them perform to their greatest ability on the day.”
Otto Bock technicians handled 2,188 repairs for the 4,000 athletes competing at the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008, according to the IPC.