2010 Paralympic Winter Games

Canada's Sonja Gaudet Gerry Austgarden and Gary Cormack deliver the stone on their way to clinching the gold medal of the Wheelchair Curling, at the Turin 2006 Winter Paralympic Games on March 13, 2008 in Pinerolo, Italy.

(AP Photo/Alberto Rame)

The Paralympic Games is an elite sport event for athletes from six different disability groups that emphasizes the participants’ athletic achievements rather than their disability. The idea of merging different disability groups for international sport competitions was born in Canada and this country remains a strong advocate of the Paralympic Games movement. 

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and all partners involved in organizing the Games, including the Government of Canada, are committed to leveraging the Paralympic Winter Games to ensure unprecedented high profile exposure of the event. The importance given to this is demonstrated by VANOC’s integrated delivery and planning approach—a first in Games’ history.

To support their delivery, the Government of Canada has invested $32M towards the operating costs of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

2010 will mark the tenth Paralympic Winter Games. This is the perfect chance to highlight the achievements of our Canadian Paralympians and to celebrate their contributions to the sporting world.

Source : VANOC

The Paralympic Games is the premiere sporting event for athletes with a physical disability. The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games will be the very first time in the history of the Paralympic Winter Games that Canadian Paralympians will be competing with the home-field advantage.