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Whistler marks countdown to 2010 Paralympics

Television and transportation key lessons from Summer Games in Beijing
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Final Countdown Sumi celebrates the end of the Summer Paralympics with Jacqueline Perolli, age 8, of Whistler. Photo by Scott Brammer, coastphoto.com

As Beijing celebrates the end of the Summer Paralympic Games Whistler is celebrating the start of the final countdown to the 2010 Winter Paralympics.

The milestone was marked with a well-attended village celebration Tuesday which included cake, music by 2008 Canadian Indie Awards nominee Justin Hines, appearances by the Olympic mascots, Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and dignitaries.

“We are next in line to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the excitement is building,” said Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed.

The Paralympics have already acted as a catalyst to make Whistler more accessible. Around town construction can be seen as wheelchair ramps are put in place. The athletes’ village, which will become employee restricted housing after the Games, also includes units that are universally accessible, and buses in the new fleet will be equipped for wheelchairs.

Indeed the resort sees the publicity surrounding the Paralympics as a key platform for getting the message out to the world that Whistler is a great place to train as an athlete with a disability or vacation.

“This will get us on the global radar screen of disabled tourism,” said Melamed.

Whistler will host all the Paralympic events except wheelchair curling and ice-sledge hockey, both of which will be held in Vancouver. About 1,350 athletes and officials are expected to attend from more than 40 countries. There are five sports and disciplines and 60 medal events.

Whistler is also the first mountain host to hold the closing ceremonies for the Paralympics. The opening ceremonies will be held at B.C Place in Vancouver. Tickets will go on sale in May, with 85 per cent of all individual tickets priced at $20 or less.

Olympic organizers are now moving into the operational side of hosting the Games and taking lessons learned in Beijing to heart.

Top of the list, said Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong, is getting the events on television and into the homes of people in Canada and elsewhere, raising awareness of who Canada’s Paralympians are, and explaining how the sports work.

“I think the one area where the Paralympic movement still needs one or two nudges forward is on organizing themselves so that the events are television ready,” said Furlong, who awarded medals to 2008 Paralympic Judo competitors in Beijing.

“These events are infinitely more meaningful if they are seen on TV.

“What you are looking at here are men and women with great skills and talent who have overcome extraordinary adversity and every one of them represents a remarkable story and those stories need to get told.

“I think the work in front of the Paralympic movement and organizing committees is to try to work with TV companies to make the event work on television so that the audiences understand what is going on, that they are well educated on Paralympic sport and they understand what they are looking at more fully.”

VANOC plans to use large screen videos to provide background information on each Paralympic sport and the definitions for the various disability classifications so it is easier to understand what is going on.

Organizers are quickly moving into the operational phase now. Unlike many organizing committees before it VANOC did not segregate the Paralympics into a stand-alone unit. Instead, almost everyone at VANOC has responsibility for some aspect of the Paralympics.

“There is no one here who is working only on the Olympic Games so there is no danger of going forward and delivering the Olympic Games and then suddenly having to start up something new,” said Furlong.

Several lessons were taken from the Beijing Games including the importance of the transition from the much larger Olympics to the Paralympics. In Beijing the change in the Look and Feel of the Games was done at venues within 48 hours and across the whole city in five days.

“When I got there they had changed all the banners and flags around the whole city between the Olympics and Paralympics and that was awesome,” said Whistler based Paralympian sit-skier Bran Lennea who went to Beijing as a torchbearer.

He was very impressed with the transition in Beijing from hosting the Olympics to the Paralympics and enjoyed the real sense of excitement the residents had for the smaller event.

“You felt the excitement everywhere, downtown when you were shopping, at venues, everywhere,” he said.

“It was hard to find any Paralympic souvenir stuff by the time we left because it was all sold out.

“I am really looking forward to how (Whistler) will receive the Games and how excited they will be about it.”

Lennea is hoping that Whistler will see more competitions after a successful Paralympics.

“I would like to see more parasport coming to town on a more regular basis — that would be great,” he said.

His trip to Beijing did ring some alarm bells on the transportation front.

“Get ready for transportation issues,” he said. “It was hard to get an accessible taxi at any time and during really busy days, during rainy days and especially when the events were over, it was tough.

“We have to make the buses accessible so that wheelchairs can ride the bus along with everyone else. I definitely want it to be a concern that (organizers) consider.”

VANOC is very aware of the issue, said Furlong, and are looking into new loading techniques for wheelchair-accessible buses used in Beijing.

But Canada is already advanced in accessible transportation compared to many countries.

“…Accessibility is something that has been high on our agenda for many, many years now and it is something that is a little bit newer in China, but they did a very good job,” said Furlong.

“I think we are a leading country in this area, but you can never lead by enough.”

Asked what he felt the true legacy of the Paralympics would be Furlong said: “I do believe that Olympic sport and Paralympic sport is a fantastic metaphor for people in life everyday, for dealing with challenges, (for) dealing with life in general, and you want people to be really moved by this, and they will be.”