Paralympic Games firsts - Did you know?
Paralympic Games firsts
VANOC is the first Organizing Committee to include Paralympic in its name: the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games?
Vancouver and Whistler are the first Host Cities to fly both the Olympic and Paralympic flags side by side (they also fly side by side in
VANOC is the first Organizing Committee to have representation from the Host Country National Paralympic Committee on its Board of Directors.
VANOC is the first Organizing Committee to include representation from a Paralympian on one of its subcommittees. Paul Gauthier sits on the Sustainability Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors.
VANOC is the first Organizing Committee to include Paralympic (ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling) sports as part of its commemorative circulation coins.
Vancouver is the first Host City to have a countdown clock that includes a separate countdown to the Paralympic Games.
Did you know . . .
The Paralympic School Day began as a pilot program in 2007. This program features visits by Paralympic athletes to elementary schools, and VANOC has visited 73 schools and approximately 27,000 students have participated.
VANOC has a TTY number (1.866.645.2010) for persons who are D/deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired It will allow persons in the D/deaf community to get in touch with us by phone.
1,300 media are expected at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.
Accessibility has been incorporated into the planning and design of all new venues and upgrades to existing venues. This means that persons with a disability will be able to access all venues during and after the Games.
The new Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park venue will host wheelchair curling — the largest capacity for a wheelchair curling event in Paralympic Games history.
The accessibility features of the Whistler Athletes’ Centre will equip it for use post-Games as a training centre for athletes with a disability.
The transparent Plexiglass boards in the players benches and penalty box at the UBC Thunderbird Arena will remain post-Games so that ice sledge hockey athletes can continue to use the facility?
In both the Para-Alpine and Para-Nordic events (cross-country skiing, biathlon) there are three classification categories for an athlete: standing, sitting and visually impaired?
Canadian Paralympic athlete Brian McKeever hopes to be the first Canadian athlete to compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in one year. With 8 per cent vision, Brian follows closely behind his brother in the Paralympic Games to the finish line. In the Olympic Games, Brian will be on his own —– relying on his speed, and the vague image of the other athletes on the course, to navigate his way to the podium.
The official symbol of the International Paralympic Committee is the “agitos” — representing mind, body and spirit?
The motto of the International Paralympic Committee is Spirit in Motion?
45,000 meals between the two Villages will be served during the Paralympic Games.