Yesterday, March 12, marked one-year countdown to 2010 Paralympic Games

Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics, hosted by Vancouver, kicked off the one year countdown to the Paralympic Games.

The Vancouver Games Organizing Committee (VANOC) and the Canadian Paralympic Committee feel that staging a Paralympic torch relay will help keep the momentum going between Games next year.

It is hard to believe that the Olympics are just around the corner.  The city doesn’t look anywhere close to being prepared. But anyways, back to the topic at hand.

The Paralympics will run from March 12 until March 21, and an estimated 1,350 athletes and team officials will participate from 40 different countries and regions around the globe. Some of the sports that will be showcased include Alpine Skiing, Sledge Hockey, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing and Wheelchair Curling.

I was at the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canuck game a couple of weeks ago, and in one of the intermissions, four members from Team Canada’s Sledge-Hockey team participated in a shootout type relay to demonstrate the sport to the fans, and let me tell ‘ya, that was amazing to watch.

The Paralympics began in the winter of 1976 in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden as a separate entity, but since 1992 in Albertville, France, the Paralympics and the Olympics have been showcased together on the same stage.

Canada will be sending some 55 athletes to the Paralympics and estimates to finish third overall. They are hoping to best their efforts from three years ago in Turin Italy, where they placed sixth, winning a total of 13 medals including five gold. Here’s wishing all the best to all the paralympic athletes.