Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Second to none

In three years some of the most incredible athletes in the world will be competing in Whistler at the 2010 Paralympic Games

By Clare Ogilvie

Three-time Paralympian Phil Chew is counting the days until Whistler welcomes the world’s most elite athletes with disabilities.

“I think it will be fabulous in Whistler,” said Chew, now a full time coach with the B.C. Disabled Alpine Ski Team, which grooms local athletes as they pursue their dream of going for gold.

“The venues here are fabulous. It is starting to be a more accessible place. In fact I think Whistler will probably be the most accessible Olympics to date.”

Three years from now Whistler and Vancouver will be hosting the Paralympics, which are expected to bring up to 1,300 athletes and team officials from 40 countries for the 10-day Games running March 10 to 21. In all there will be 56 medal events. About 1,300 media are expected to cover the competitions, many of which will be televised.

It is the first time that Canada has hosted the Paralympic Winter Games.

Now that much of the preparations for the Olympics are well underway intense planning for the Paralympics is front and centre and that includes encompassing the lessons learned in Torino.

With 12 days to transition from Olympic Games to Paralympic Games mode, planning and precision is critical in all areas. Attention to the conversion of integrated planning for accessibility, such as building ramps and accessible routes into the venues prior to the start of the Olympic Games, makes for less changeover during the transition period.

And while preparations seem to be going smoothly they have not been without hurdles. During the bid phase the International and Canadian Paralympics Committees were wowed with a vision, which saw all the Paralympic events hosted in Whistler — the first time such a compact venue had been offered up.

From Whistler’s point of view it was good news too since there would be a new ice arena as a legacy. But rising construction costs put an end to the dream, which was to be partially funded by the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and now ice sledge hockey, one of the most popular events, will be held in Vancouver, along with wheelchair curling.

The decision last year to give up the ice arena split the community.

“I was a little upset to start off with because they kind of got us up in Whistler involved in the Olympics in part because we were going to get a new skating rink,” said Chew.

“On the other hand I did not want to see our community have to service a huge debt.

“I do think the community of Whistler is going to really get behind the Paralympics and I think we are all excited now.”

The decision also forced the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) to create a new vision, “small town spirit, big town facilities, world-class exposure.”

“The concept that VANOC presented for the bid was the best concept in our minds,” said Xavier Gonzales, chief executive officer for the IPC, from Germany. “But we also have understood why VANOC and the city of Whistler decided not to build the facility.”

The IPC has accepted the new concept but there are challenges to address, said Gonzales.

“There is a significant distance between the two clusters of venues, that is a physical reality,” said Gonzales.

“The issue we have with them now is going from the concept to the reality…. One of the challenges of these Games is to maintain the atmosphere with the two cities now.”

But, he added, the increased exposure events held in Vancouver will receive somewhat outweighs the concerns. However, this too has its own pitfalls as Paralympic athletes do not want to play in huge venues that are not full of cheering fans.

“…Now there needs to be strong ticketing to ensure the venues are full,” said Gonzales. “I am very comfortable with their plans and I have no doubt that they will be full. But the plans need to be laid out.”

VANOC’s Dena Coward, who is heading up Paralympic preparations and planning, said planning discussions are already underway with community groups, schools and others to get them involved with Paralympic events to ensure they are well attended. That includes a request to the Ministry of Education to ensure that spring break is not scheduled during the Paralympics.

“That request was made as it will obviously help us with our (spectator) program,” said Coward.

And athletes will be able to go back and forth between the two host venues so they can experience both communities.

“ …We have been talking about a shuttle that will run athletes between Whistler and Vancouver,” she said, adding that in general the events are very affordable.

VANOC is also looking closely at how to make the venues accessible and is focusing on getting the message out to the public about the excitement of the Paralympic events.

“(We will be) working with the IPC, making people aware of what the Paralympics Games are and making people aware of the athletes, their stories, and what incredible athletes they are. They do have amazing stories.”

Paralympians will compete in alpine skiing, biathlon, and cross-country skiing in Whistler, at the same venues as those used for the Olympics. The closing ceremonies and medal ceremonies for Whistler events will also be held in the resort. The Paralympic opening ceremonies will be held at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver.

According to the CPC the Paralympic Summer Games are the second largest sporting event in the world today, the largest being the Olympic Games. In a relatively short time, the Paralympic Winter Games has established itself as a major event on the Olympic calendar. The winter Paralympics made their debut in 1976 in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, but the concept goes back 50 years to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, England. That’s where Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, known as the “Father of Sport for People with Disabilities”, advocated using sports therapy to enhance the quality of life for people who were injured or wounded during World War II.

Dr. Guttmann organized the 1948 International Wheelchair Games to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics. His dream was of a worldwide sports competition for people with disabilities to be held every four years as “the equivalent of the Olympic Games”.  Twelve years later, his dream became a reality.

The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome, Italy, in 1960 and involved 400 athletes from 23 countries. Originally only wheelchair athletes were invited to compete. Since that time, the Paralympic Games have grown dramatically. The present day Paralympic Games include six major classifications of athletes: persons with visual impairments, persons with physical disabilities, amputee athletes, people with cerebral palsy, people with spinal cord injuries, and Les Autres — athletes with a physical disability that are not included in the categories mentioned above (e.g., people with Muscular Dystrophy).

The Paralympics are held in two seasons: summer and winter. Twelve countries participated in the first Winter Paralympic Games, in Sweden in 1976, competing in alpine and cross-country skiing events. In 1992, the four-year cycle was modified so that the winter and summer Paralympic Games coincide with the Olympics.

Sir Ludwig Guttmann died in 1980, but his vision of sport for athletes with disabilities continues today, and is in fact working full circle as the CPC and the Canadian Department of Defence ?work together to help Canadian Forces members with disabilities pursue sport.

From Brian MacPherson’s point of view as chief operating officer for the CPC, the 2010 Games are the crest of a sea change when it comes to athletes with disabilities and VANOC is leading much of the change.

It is the first time, said MacPherson, that an organizing committee has included the word Paralympic in its legal name, flown the IOC and IPC flags side by side, created a countdown clock with both events on it, helped produce commemorative coins showing Paralympic sports, and had a Paralympic representative at the board level.

“I’m hoping this will be a legacy for future organizing committees,” he said recalling some of the shameful ways Paralympic Games have been treated in the past.

“…Probably the best terrible example was the Atlanta Games in 1996.

“(The athletes’ village)… looked like a stormed prison camp. Everything had been taken out, the vending machines, the ATMs, there were no services, and things were ripped out of the walls.”

That certainly won’t be the case in Whistler. The village will be a universally inclusive legacy, said Chew, who is hoping it will make a significant difference to training opportunities.

And Chew is part of a municipality-supported community group investigating how to make the resort more accessible.

“…We have had some disabled community members go through the community and find out where the barriers are and we are trying to eliminate all those barriers,” he said.

“I am trying to make it so the Paralympics isn’t treated like a second thought, like, ‘Oh this is something we have to do.’”

The municipality has been running ads in local papers to raise awareness, it is moving ahead with a plan to improve signage, and an accessibility map of the village is already on the RMOW website.

Some might argue that the way to raise the profile of the Paralympics is to run events at the same time as the Olympics. But that is something that Chew has no desire to see.

“I think if it was connected we would get lost in the shuffle,” he said. “It would be too big, too big”

The CPC’s MacPherson concurs.

“For us it gets back to the message that beyond the Games satisfying individual athlete’s goals and fulfilling their dreams, the purpose of the Paralympic Games is to increase awareness and educate the world and change people’s minds about how they perceive people with disabilities so that people with disabilities can lead a better life within that society.

“Television is the key to that and… by being separate and distinct you get that coverage and you get to spread the message. So between logistics and television you’re not going to see these Games become one.”

Winning the 2010 Paralympics has also meant that federal money is finally flowing to the CPC, something MacPherson believes is bolstering today’s Canadian para-athletes to success.

“This year has been better than ever and I think it is a reflection of Own the Podium dollars kicking in, especially for this genre of sport, which historically has not received a lot of money,” he said.

“So a big boost like this does wonders. Our share of Own the Podium dollars equals about 10 per cent of the total pot, so in any given year Own the Podium has a pot of $22 million, so $2 million is directly given to our sports and the athletes at the national level.”

And it’s not just money flowing out. Athletes with disabilities and their needs are also part of the Top Secret sport science program at the national level.

“There are some very specific Paralympic equipment research projects going on that will give our athletes a competitive edge in these sports come 2010.... When you are vying for one tenth of a second as the difference between a medal or not, this is important stuff.”

But, said Chew, on the grassroots level more funding is needed for the provincial feeder teams, especially in the form of equipment sponsors.

And, like their Olympic counterparts, there is great excitement about VANOC’s commitment to having the venues ready a couple of years prior to the Games.

“There is no better thing than having home field advantage leading into a Games,” said the CPC’s MacPherson. “VANOC has made a commitment to have these venues operational two years out, that is phenomenal, and it is not the norm. Sometimes we are walking into venues and they are still painting, still laying the sod and putting the lines on the field.

“This is a dream come true for any athlete to be able to compete at a Paralympic Games on their home soil and you have to remember that this is the first time we have ever hosted the Paralympic Winter Games, that’s powerful.”

More than 8 million Canadians and 1.4 billion people around the world watched Parlaympic events from Torino. The coverage sends a powerful message and one that the IPC’s Gonzales said is top of mind for the organization.

“We want to show the world that these are elite athletes and the Paralympics are an elite competition,” he said.

“At the same time we want to send a message about seeing people with disabilities in a different way and maybe changing attitudes and sending a message of inclusion.

“We also want a legacy left (in Whistler and Vancouver) which would allow disabled travellers to come here. We believe with VANOC that we can increase visibility, and we can increase awareness around the world that if you create the necessary facilities and the infrastructure people with disabilities will come and practice sport at any level, and not only the athletes but all families too.”

Success is also leading to recognition and with television coverage growing all the time MacPherson is working to make sure that athletes with disabilities are no longer the second cousins in sport.

“We have been using this opportunity to integrate ourselves into the fabric of Canada’s high performance sport system so if post-Games they try to rip the Paralympic sports side out it would be ripping the whole system,” he said.

“(Athletes with disabilities) train just as hard, they sacrifice just as much, they are dedicated, they are committed and they are there to win.

“Heroes are made at Olympic Games and heroes come to the Paralympic Games.”



Comments