The 2010 Winter Paralympics

The 2010 Winter Paralympics, officially known as the X Paralympic Winter Games, are being held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada from March 12 to March 21, 2010. The Opening Ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.

2010 will be the second time Canada has hosted the Paralympic Games, following the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto.

On June 7, 2006, Prince Edward, as a member of the Canadian Royal Family, and patron of the British Paralympic Association, raised the flag of the Paralympic Games outside Vancouver City Hall.

Venues for the 2010 Winter Paralympics will be shared between Vancouver and Whistler, as with the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Forty-four National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) entered athletes at the 2010 Winter Paralympics. This was an increase of five from the 39 represented at the 2006 Winter Paralympics.

A total of 506 athletes participated in the Games. This is an increase from the 476 athletes who participated in 2006.

Five sports will be on the 2010 program:

Alpine skiing
Biathlon
Cross-country skiing
Wheelchair curling
Sledge hockey




Paralympic Sport TV (paralympicsport.tv), which is the Internet TV channel of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), will offer international free online live and recorded coverage of the games, every day from 9:00 to 22:30 PST.

In the United Kingdom, the BBC will broadcast the Games, but only through the red button and online.

The opening ceremony was lovely. Children and adults both contributed to
make the opening a bright success.

There are an amazing bunch of athletes competing world wide.



A touching tribute to Terry Fox was shown; showing that man/woman
can do anything that they choose to do, regardless of handicap
and limitations.

These Paralympics athletes have proven that just by being present
in the 2010 Winter Paralympics Games.

Immediately following all the proper ceremonial event, Sledge Hockey Game
was played by Canada vs Italy.

On behalf of MMs and The MotherShip we wish our best to all the Paralympic athletes
in the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Canada.

You represent the world, and the world is cheering you all on.
Thank you x Cheers x



More video to follow...

Canadian sledge stars shut out Italy!

Greg Westlake of Mississauga, Ont., scored a pair of insurance markers as Canada shutout Italy 4-0 on Saturday to begin the 2010 Winter Paralympics’ sledge hockey tournament.

Marc Dorion of Bourget, Ont., beat Italian goaltender Santino Stillitano early in the first period after receiving a pass from Adam Dixon, but Dorion’s shot ricocheted off the crossbar.

Dorion had better luck at 9:28 when he converted a pass from Billy Bridges of Mississauga into a goal after Italian defender Gianluigi Rosa inadvertently redirected the puck with his skate.

Right winger Westlake doubled the score with a third period shot under the crossbar that was affirmed under an official video review. He added another almost four minutes later.

“We wanted to get the insurance there,” Westlake said. “I didn’t care who got it, I just wanted to breathe a little easier on the bench.”

Westlake was born in North Vancouver and his legs amputated below the knees when he was 18 months.

Captain Jean Labonte of Gatineau, Que., scored unassisted with almost five minutes to go.

Goaltender Paul Rosen of Thornhill, Ont., recorded the shutout. Canada outshot Italy 16-4. The result was somewhat of a moral victory for Italy, which was embarrassed 12-0 by Canada during the 2006 Turin Games.

“We didn’t have the start we wanted,” Labonte said. “We’ve got to give it to Italy, they played a really defensive game and were solid in their own end.”

Canada faces Sweden on Sunday while Italy meets defending silver medallist Norway.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended the game and posed for photographs with a long line of Canadian hockey fans during the intermissions. Paid attendance in the 6,800-capacity arena was reported as 5,420.

A very well played game by both teams, I must say it takes quite some skills to
manage such a game by these players, they made it interesting to watch and
they managed to play their hearts best.

Well done to all of you.

Bravo! Congratulations x

1. Russian Federation Gold= 12 Silver= 16 Bronze= 10 Total= 38

2. Germany Gold= 13 Silver= 5 Bronze= 6 Total= 24

3. Canada Gold= 10 Silver= 5 Bronze= 4 Total= 19

3. Ukraine Gold= 5 Silver= 8 Bronze= 6 Total= 19

4. U.S.A. Gold= 4 Silver= 5 Bronze= 4 Total= 13

5. Slovakia Gold= 6 Silver= 2 Bronze= 3 Total= 11

5. Austria Gold= 3 Silver= 4 Bronze= 4 Total= 11

5. Japan Gold= 3 Silver= 3 Bronze= 5 Total= 11

6. Belarus Gold= 2 Silver= 0 Bronze= 7 Total= 9

7. Italy Gold= 1 Silver= 3 Bronze=3 Total= 7

8. France Gold= 1 Silver= 4 Bronze= 1 Total= 6

8. Norway Gold= 1 Silver= 3 Bronze= 2 Total= 6

9. Australia Gold= 0 Silver= 1 Bronze= 3 Total= 4

10. Spain Gold= 1 Silver= 2 Bronze= 0 Total= 3

10. Switzerland Gold= 1 Silver= 2 Bronze= 0 Total= 3

11. Finland Gold= 0 Silver= 1 Bronze= 1 Total= 2

11. Sweden Gold= 0 Silver= 0 Bronze= 2 Total= 2

12. New Zealand Gold= 1 Silver= 0 Bronze= 0 Total= 1

12. Korea Gold= 0 Silver= 1 Bronze= 0 Total= 1

12. Czech Republic Gold=0 Silver= 0 Bronze= 1 Total= 1

12. Poland Gold= 0 Silver= 0 Bronze= 1 Total= 1

Who knew the Japanese were so good at Sledge Hockey?
I do hope they beat the yanks(Team U.S.A.) really well.
Go Team Japan, WIN!

The 2010 Paralympics, breaking new records in attendance and visibility around the world, closed out in a flash of colour and patriotism Sunday night as athletes from around the world gathered under a basketball court-sized Canadian flag and wished the Games goodbye.


It may be more accurate, however, to say that many of the 506 athletes here wished not to say goodbye at all to the Games, which for 10 days of competition had been the focus of so many hopes and dreams.


For some, like Canada's Lauren Woolstencroft and Germany's Verena Bentele, who each won five gold medals, these were Games of remarkable achievements.


For others, like the Canadian sledge hockey team, which came in expecting to win gold again and instead finished a disappointing fourth, these may be less memorable Games.


But under that massive Canadian flag at the open-air Whistler celebration site none of that seemed to matter, as athletes watched a ceremony that paid homage to their efforts and invited them back for more in four years' time.


Clouds that earlier in the day had parted to let the sun brightly shine through at one point and at another drenched Whistler thoroughly, held back during the ceremony. And yet the 6,000 spectators, athletes, officials and dignitaries had all come prepared, wearing an assortment of hats, plastic ponchos and rainwear.


There was a sweet historical irony at play Sunday. This was the 25th anniversary of the start of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion tour, an event that helped change the world's view of people who live with a disability. Hansen, a key part of the opening ceremony, wasn't involved in the closing.


The audience watched on huge screens as 125 skiers of all ages and abilities carried red torches down Whistler Mountain, and they listened to the voices of 185 people in the Sea to Sky Chorus as they were led in the singing of O Canada by 19-year-old Ali Milner.


Seated at the front were Prince Edward, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Gordon Campbell. Around them stood thousands of cheering, clapping spectators.


Threaded throughout the closing ceremony was the theme from the anthem, "With Glowing Hearts," marking what organizers hoped would be a festive celebration rather than sadness at seeing one of the most successful Paralympics in history come to a close.


"What a blast we've had," Sir Phil Craven, the president of the International Paralympic Committee, shouted out to the cheering crowds. "The best Paralympic Winter Games ever!"


He was effusive in his praise of the Vancouver Organizing Committee and its legion of blue-jacketed volunteers. He said they were had created a wonderful community spirit for the athletes.


"We have seen great feats of daring, of endurance and of skill. But the Paralympic Winter Games are not only about supreme athletic performance," he said. "They are about a community, about a far reaching and extending family."


John Furlong, the president of the Vancouver Organizing Committee, left the ceremony halfway through to catch a flight to Georgia, where he is attending a memorial for Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luge athlete killed Feb. 12 in a training accident.


But before he left, he told the cheering crowds that the Paralympic and Olympic Games had ignited a country.


"We now know that sport success is in our nation’s highest interest; that through sport we are a stronger nation, a better nation," he said. "We found something special here in British Columbia. And while the world noticed our patriotic celebration and excitement, we at Vancouver 2010 felt it."


Produced by Patrick Roberge, the 90-minute ceremony included a short "we're next" passage by the organizers of the 2014 Sochi Paralympics.


The ceremony was a feast of Canadian musical and artistic talent. The athletes came into the plaza to the foot-stomping music of Quebec folk band La Bottine Souriante, and left at the end of a fireworks display preceded by dances by Whistler's Soul Funktion Studio. In between, there was a hoop dance by Lil'Wat Nation member Alex Wells, a self-described "Lord of the Rings," throat singing by Inuit artist Tanya Tagaq and a traditional Inuit blanket toss.


As Andrew Allen sang the ballad Amazing, the Paralympic torches in Whistler and Vancouver were extinguished.


These were, as far as the IPC and Vanoc are concerned, benchmark Games in many respects.

They drew larger television audiences than ever before. Even CTV, the Canadian broadcaster, bent to public pressure and agreed to televise the closing ceremony live across the nation in both English and French.


The Paralympics do not draw the crowds or the media of the Olympics, which opened a month before. But these Paralympics were a success in terms of attendance; more than 230,000 tickets, or 85 per cent of those available, were sold, making it by those standards the most successful Winter Games ever for the IPC.


In the past, Games organizers have struggled to sell tickets, to entice corporate sponsors and to encourage the world's media to give even a fraction of the attention they give to the Olympics. That's the downside. The upside is the Paralympics, as Craven once said, still has the same neighbourly feel as the Olympics did 30 years ago, before it discovered corporate sponsorships.




It's raining in Whistler village as the athletes parade into the closing ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games.

About 800-900 of the 1400 athletes are expected to participate in the party in Whistler.

These are the first Paralympic Games ever held in Canada.

It was reported Sunday afternoon that Lauren Woolstencroft, who was born missing both legs below the knee and her left arm below the elbow, would be the Paralympic ceremony's flag bearer.

First nations dancers from the Lil’wat First Nation, one of the four host first nations. There is a drummer, a decorated dancer and a young girl dancing.

The dancer is using yellow hoops as props in his complex dance.

The Sea to Sky Chorus and Ali Milner are singing O Canada as a huge flag is unfurled across the audience.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Premier Gordon Campbell and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson are all in the Whistler audience.

John Furlong is congratulating everyone for the "performance of a lifetime."

"You have been remarkable ambassadors of the human spirit," Furlong told the volunteers. He called the athletes heroes and told the gold-medal winners that all Canadian children knew their names.

He thanked the volunteers for their selfless service to the Games.

"Once a blue jacket, forever a blue jacket," Furlong told the volunteers.

He told the audience that through sport, Canada is a stronger nation.

Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk is singing as a tribute to the athletes is shown on the screen.

Tanya Tagaq is performing Inuit throat singing as a Paralympian is thrown into the air in an Inuit blanket tossing game.

Canadian sit-skier Colette Bourgonje and Japanese sledge hockey captain Endo Takayuki are now receiving the Whang YounDai Achievement Award from International Paralympic Committee president Sir Phil Craven.

"What a blast we've had here in Whistler, in Vancouver," Craven told the audience.

"Canada's Lauren Woolstencroft confirming without doubt that she is Canada's greatest alpine skier of the moment," Craven said as Woolstencroft smiled and waved to the crowd.

Craven congratulated the U.S. sledge hockey team for winning the most competitve sledge hockey tournament ever held.

"Volunteers: your contribution is incalcuable. You have made these Paralympic Games magic; the best ever Paralympic Games," Craven said.

The Paralympic flag is being lowered in Whistler.

The mayors of Whistler and Vancouver passed on the Paralympic flag to the IPC president, who will pass it on to the mayor of Sochi, the Russian city that will host the 2014 Paralympic Games.

Singers from Sochi are performing as the Russian flag is raised over the Paralympic closing ceremony.

Sand painting is being projected onto a large screen as wheelchair dancers are on stage.

Andrew Allan is singing Amazing as the Olympic flames are being extinguished.

Canadian children are passing the flame over to Russian representatives from Sochi.

Fireworks have exploded over the Whistler stadium as the crowd says goodbye.

Behalf of all us here at MMs, The MotherShip, to all the athletes, their friends and familes, coaches, countries, volunteers and all those connected and supported, we congratulate you all. Congratulations to all, well done! Cheers x

See you in London in 2012 and in Sochi in 2014.
Thank you everyone x