Kim Vanna, 40-year-old Cambodian runner who lost his right leg below the knee in a landmine explosion in 1989, will depart for Beijing on September 1, for the Paralympic Games from September 6 to 17, local media said on Tuesday.

Vanna will compete in the 100- and 200-meter races at the Games, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily quoted Yi Veasna, secretary general of the National Paralympic Committee of Cambodia, as saying.

Kim Vanna was selected by the committee on the basis of the silver medal he had won at the ASEAN Para Games in Thailand earlier this year, said Yi Veasna.

"He is our national athlete selection for 2008. He has the most recent medal from the ASEAN Games," he said, adding that the government had recently awarded him US$4,000 for his silver medal.

Meanwhile, China has agreed to subsidize 60 percent of the airfare for Kim Vanna and his accompanying assistant and National Bank of Cambodia governor Chea Chanto also donated US$500, he added.

Kim Vanna has so far won 18 medals in international competitions, three golds, 10 silvers and five bronzes, and the Beijing trip will be the first time that he attends Paralympic Games.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2008)