Paralympic Winter Games kicks off in Canada
QĐND – Sunday, March 14, 2010, 21:39 (GMT+7)
The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games officially opened in the Canadian province of British Columbia on March 12 night (local time).
As many as 35,000 spectators and officials, including Governor General Michaelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, attended the opening ceremony, which was organised at BC Place Stadium.
A two-hour show featured a cast of 5,000 people performing music, dance and songs around a theme of “One inspires many”.
A new flame lit the cauldron here just twelve days after the Winter Olympic flame was extinguished. The Paralympic torch relay arrived in Vancouver on March 10 for the final leg of its journey before the start of March 12’s opening ceremony in Vancouver. About 600 torchbearers are participating nationwide.
The Paralympic torch was carried into the stadium jointly by Betty and
Rolly Fox, parents of Terry Fox, a forever-young Canadian hero who died in 1981 at 22 after running — on one leg — 5,300 kilometres in 143 days, to raise funds for cancer research.
Fox’s attempt to run across all of Canada was foiled when his cancer
returned, but today millions of people in 30 countries take part in an annual Terry Fox run.
The Paralympics, which run from March 12-21, features 1,350 athletes, trainers and support staff from 44 countries and regions.
The athletes will compete in five sports and 64 medal events, including wheelchair curling, ice sledge hockey, Alpine skiing and the Nordic skiing encompassing biathlon and cross-country skiing.
Source: VNA
Source: QDND
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