 | |
| Location | Vancouver, Canada |
|---|---|
| Motto | With Glowing Hearts (French:Des plus brillants exploits) |
| Nations | 44 |
| Athletes | 506 |
| Events | 64 in 5sports |
| Opening | 12 March 2010 |
| Closing | 21 March 2010 |
| Opened by | |
| Closed by | |
| Cauldron | |
| Stadium | BC Place Stadium |
Winter Summer 2010 Winter Olympics | |
 |
| Part of a series on |
| 2010 Winter Paralympics |
|---|
The2010 Winter Paralympics (French:Jeux paralympiques d'hiver de 2010), or the tenthParalympic Winter Games, were held inVancouver andWhistler, British Columbia, Canada, from March 12 to 21, 2010. The opening ceremony took place inBC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the closing ceremony inWhistler Medals Plaza.
This was the first time Canada hosted the WinterParalympic Games and second time it hosted the Paralympics – the first was the1976 Summer Paralympics inToronto.
On June 7, 2006,Prince Edward, as a member of theCanadian Royal Family and patron of the British Paralympic Association, raised the flag of the Paralympic Games outsideVancouver City Hall.[1]
Brian McKeever ofCanada became the first athlete to be named in a Winter Paralympics andWinter Olympics team in the same year, although he did not compete in the Olympic Games. (At the2010 Winter Olympics, he was scheduled to compete in the men's 50 km cross-country race, but the coach replaced him with a skier who did well at an earlier event.)[2][3][4] At the Paralympics, he competed incross-country skiing andbiathlon.
Viviane Forest became the first Paralympian to win a gold in both the Winter and Summer Games, having won thewomen's downhill for visually impaired. She had previously won gold in the2000 and2004 Summer Paralympics for women'sgoalball.[5][6] CanadianLauren Woolstencroft won 5 gold medals inalpine skiing, the most gold medals won by any Canadian Winter Paralympian at a single Games.[7] Also GermanVerena Bentele won 5 gold medals, inbiathlon andcross-country skiing, and with that number they set thegold medal record for the 2010 Games.
As part of a formal agreement between theInternational Paralympic Committee and theInternational Olympic Committee first established in 2001, the winner of the bid for the2010 Winter Olympics was also to host the 2010 Winter Paralympics.[8] Following the second and final round of voting at the 115th IOC Session inPrague, Czech Republic, the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were awarded to Vancouver.[9]
| 2010 Winter Olympics bidding results[10] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Nation | Round 1 | Round 2 | ||
| Vancouver |  Canada | 40 | 56 | ||
| Pyeongchang |  South Korea | 51 | 53 | ||
| Salzburg |  Austria | 16 | — | ||
The same torch design (silver with Paralympic logo) used for the Olympics was used for the Paralympic Games. On March 3, 2010, the torch began a 10-day journey from Ottawa to Vancouver.[11] The relay involved approximately six hundred runners to carry the torch across ten Canadian cities in three provinces:[12]
Venues for the 2010 Winter Paralympics were shared between Vancouver and Whistler, as with the2010 Winter Olympics.
| Venue | Location | Sports | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre | Vancouver | Ice sledge hockey | 7,200 | [13] |
| Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre | Vancouver | Wheelchair curling | 6,000 | [14] |
| Whistler Creekside | Whistler | Alpine skiing | 7,600 | [15] |
| Whistler Paralympic Park | Whistler | Biathlon,cross-country skiing | 6,000 | [16] |
| Venue | Location | Purpose | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC Place Stadium | Vancouver | Opening ceremonies | [17] |
| International Broadcast Centre | Vancouver | Media (Broadcaster) Centre | [18] |
| Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Village | Vancouver | Paralympic Village | [19] |
| Whistler Media Centre | Whistler | Media centre | [20] |
| Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village | Whistler | Paralympic Village | [21] |
| Whistler Olympic Celebration Plaza | Whistler | Awards and Closing ceremonies | [22] |
When the mascot, Sumi, an animal guardian spirit with the wings of theThunderbird and legs of a black bear, was introduced, it was the first time the Olympic and Paralympic mascots were introduced at the same time.
To commemorate the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, 17Canadian coins were issued for general circulation. Two of the circulation coins honour Paralympic sports: wheelchair curling (released on July 11, 2007) and ice sledge hockey (released on March 18, 2010). The circulation quarters omitted a traditional phrase,Dei Gratia Regina, from their obverse side, making them the first godless coins in circulation since 1911.[23]
Specifications
| Years | Weight | Diameter/Shape | Composition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–present | 4.4 g | 23.88 mm | 94.0%steel, 3.8%copper, 2.2%nickel plating |
Details
| Date of Issue | Sport | Artist | Mintage |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 11, 2007 | Wheelchair curling | Glen Green | 22,000,000 |
| March 18, 2010 | Ice sledge hockey | Glen Green | 22,000,000 |
With a theme of "One inspires many," the opening ceremony featured over 5000 local performers. Fifteen-year-old snowboarder Zach Beaumont, who is an amputee, was the final torch bearer and lit the Games Cauldron. The 2 hours live ceremony was produced by Vancouver-based Patrick Roberge Productions Inc.
Forty-fourNational Paralympic Committees (NPCs) entered athletes at the 2010 Winter Paralympics. This was an increase of five from the 39 represented at the2006 Winter Paralympics. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC.
Andorra (2)[24]
Argentina (2)[24]
Armenia (2)[24]
Australia (11)[24] Austria (19)[24]
Belarus (9)[24]
Belgium (1)[24]
Bosnia and Herzegovina (1)[24]
Bulgaria (3)[24] Canada (55)[24][25]
Chile (2)[24]
China (7)[24]
Croatia (4)[24]
Czech Republic (19)[24][26]
Denmark (2)[24]
Finland (5)[24]
France (21)[24]
Germany (20)[24][27]
Great Britain (12)[24]
Greece (2)[24][28]
Hungary (2)[24]
Iceland (1)[24]
Iran (1)[24]
Italy (35)[24][26][29]
Japan (42)[24][26]
Kazakhstan (1)[24]
Mexico (2)[24]
Mongolia (2)[24]
Netherlands (1)[24]
New Zealand (2)[24]
Norway (27)[24]
Poland (12)[24][30]
Romania (1)[24]
Russia (31)[24]
Serbia (1)[24]
Slovakia (13)[24][31]
Slovenia (1)[24]
South Africa (1)[24]
South Korea (25)[24][26]
Spain (5)[24]
Sweden (26)[24]
Switzerland (15)[24]
Ukraine (19)[24]
United States (50)[24]A total of 506 athletes participated in the Games. This is an increase from the 476 athletes who participated in 2006.
Argentina andRomania took part in the Winter Paralympic Games for the first time,[32][33] as didBosnia and Herzegovina.[34] All three have previously participated in several editions of theSummer Paralympics.Serbia also made its Winter Paralympics début as a distinct NPC, following its split withMontenegro.[35]
Despite the overall increase of delegates and athletes,Latvia, which participated in Turin for the 2006 Winter Paralympics, did not send athletes to Vancouver.
Five sports were on the 2010 program:
_pictogram.svg)
Alpine skiing(30) (details)
Biathlon(12) (details)
Cross-country skiing(20) (details)
Ice sledge hockey(1) (details).svg)
Wheelchair curling(1) (details)In the following calendar for the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which gold medal finals for a sport are held.[36]
| ● | Opening ceremony | Event competitions | ● | Event finals | ● | Closing ceremony |
| March 2010 | 12th Fri | 13th Sat | 14th Sun | 15th Mon | 16th Tue | 17th Wed | 18th Thu | 19th Fri | 20th Sat | 21st Sun | Gold medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine skiing | ●● ●● | ●● | ●● ●● | ●● | ●● ●● ●● | ●● ●● ●● | ●● ●● ●● | 30 | |||
| Biathlon | ●● ●● ●● | ●● ●● ●● | 12 | ||||||||
| Cross-country skiing | ●● | ●● ●● | ●● ●● ●● | ●● | ●● ●● ●● | 20 | |||||
| Ice sledge hockey | ● | 1 | |||||||||
| Wheelchair curling | ● | 1 | |||||||||
| Total gold medals | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 64 | |
| Ceremonies | ● | ● |
The top tenNPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation, Canada, is highlighted.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany (GER) | 13 | 5 | 6 | 24 |
| 2 | Russia (RUS) | 12 | 16 | 10 | 38 |
| 3 | Canada (CAN)* | 10 | 5 | 4 | 19 |
| 4 | Slovakia (SVK) | 6 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 5 | Ukraine (UKR) | 5 | 8 | 6 | 19 |
| 6 | United States (USA) | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
| 7 | Austria (AUT) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 8 | Japan (JPN) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 9 | Belarus (BLR) | 2 | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| 10 | France (FRA) | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Totals (10 entries) | 59 | 52 | 50 | 161 | |
| Date | Sport | Event | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 March | Biathlon | Men's 12.5km Sitting | Russia | Irek Zaripov | Vladimir Kiselev | Roman Petushkov | [37] |
| 21 March | Cross-country skiing | Men's 1 km Sprint Classic Sitting | Russia | Sergey Shilov | Irek Zaripov | Vladimir Kiselev | [38] |
In Canada, the games were broadcast byCanada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, ajoint venture betweenCTVglobemedia andRogers Media. The networks aired a greater amount of coverage than what had been shown in previous years, a total of 50 hours of coverage. Coverage included including a daily 90-minute highlight program, and live coverage of select sledge hockey matches (games involving Canada, plus the gold medal game) onCTV. The opening ceremony was broadcast live on CTV's Vancouver stationCIVT-TV, followed by an encore aired nationally on CTV andRéseau Info Sports the following afternoon.[39] While not originally planned, CTV and RDS also aired live coverage of theclosing ceremony.[40]
The games were aired onUniversal Sports in the United States.
Paralympic Sport TV (paralympicsport.tv), the Internet TV channel of theInternational Paralympic Committee (IPC), offered international free online live and recorded coverage of the games, every day from 9:00 to 22:30 PST.[41]
In New Zealand,SKY TV broadcast one hour of highlights each day, and full coverage of New Zealand athletes.[42]
In the United Kingdom,BBC broadcast the Games, but only through thered button and online.[43]
In Europe,Eurosport broadcast live the medal events in biathlon, alpine and cross-country skiing.
In France,France Télévisions provided live coverage on its website.[44]
In Italy,Sky Sport provided record coverage with all games live on five dedicated HD channels.[45]
In Australia,ABC1 broadcast the games.[46]
In Norway,NRK broadcast the games. 30 hours of the Games were broadcast live. NRK-sport were critical to parts of the TV production from Vancouver, an issue they've notified to theEBU. Issues such as showingbiathlon without showing the shooting, and incross-country skiing there were numerous panorama shots of the same mountain area with skiers in the distance, making it hard to follow the progress of the competition. NRK were far more pleased with the production of theice sledge hockey andwheelchair curling events, which they felt reached the same level as the Olympic Games.[47]
New Zealand'sSky Sport won the best broadcast award for their coverage of the Games. Gary Kingston writing for theVancouver Sun took the best written category. While Jeff Crow won the best photography category for his picture ofShannon Dallas.[48]
The mascot of the 2010 Winter Paralympics is Sumi, who has the wings of a thunderbird and the legs of a black bear, accompanied by his marmot sidekick, Mukmuk.
In the winter sports season following the games, there was a notable increase in winterdisability sports participation throughoutBritish Columbia.[49]
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata| Preceded by | Winter Paralympics Vancouver X Paralympic Winter Games (2010) | Succeeded by |
