Vancouver 2010 Paralympics Guide

The 2010 Winter Paralympic Games are coming to Vancouver, March 12th until the 21st, as our city hosts the world once again celebrating athletes who are the very best in their sport. In case you were wondering just what exactly the Paralympics entail, I thought I would put together this quick reference guide.

Paralympic History
“In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving World War II veterans with a spinal cord injury in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born. Olympic style games for athletes with a disability were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960, now called Paralympics.

In Toronto in 1976, other disability groups were added and the idea of merging together different disability groups for international sport competitions was born. In the same year, the first Paralympic Winter Games took place in Sweden.” – International Paralympic Committee

Sports
Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Wheelchair Curling, Ice Sledge Hockey.

Venues

Events
The Cultural Olympiad is still going strong as well, presenting performances until March 21st. Nightly medals ceremony concerts in Whistler are listed here.

Pavilions & Attractions
From my master list of pavilions the following will still be open:

Transportation
The following routes will continue to have “no stopping” regulations through March 21, 2010

There is a full Paralympics transportation plan available from the City of Vancouver.

Tickets
Event tickets start at around $15 or $20 so if you didn’t have the chance to go to an Olympic sporting event, this may be your chance to get in on some world-class athletic competition.

Torch Relay
The Paralympic Torch Relay will begin March 3, 2010 and conclude at the Opening Ceremony March 12th in Vancouver.

Torchbearers
CBC’s Rick Mercer will represent the province of British Columbia as a torchbearer in the 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay Lighting Ceremony on March 3 in Ottawa. There will be other recognizable names along the way which you can look up online.

Coverage
The Opening Ceremony will not be aired live Friday night on CTV. According to their website: “The opening ceremonies will not be broadcast live. Instead, they’ll be tape-delayed by CTV until Saturday, and packaged with Canada’s first sledge-hockey match.”

“The good news is that social media and the internet are picking up where traditional media is failing. Paralympic Sport TV — the Internet TV channel of the International Paralympic Committee — will offer free live broadcasts worldwide via Internet.” – Via Glenda Watson-Hyatt.

Update There are some reports that the Opening Ceremony will air live only in BC. This is yet to be confirmed by CTV however News1130 has spoken with them. They have been assured that the Opening Ceremony will air live, locally.

I have not been accredited to cover the Paralympics, due to late application, however this event will be a part of our city over the next month and anything that keeps the Olympic spirit alive is worth documenting and promoting in my books.

Update: VANOC has approved my accreditation, so it looks like I’ll be able to cover this even more. Thanks for all the support!