Game On For Vancouver 2010 Paralympics

Athletes from 44 countries were welcomed to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Winter Games Friday as they paraded into BC Place Stadium to the cheers of close to 5000 performers, mostly volunteers, who participated in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

Following the parade of athletes, where more than 1,300 athletes and officials were welcomed to the Games, a sole performer, Luca "Lazylegz" Patuelli did an "awe-inspiring break dance performance and Martin Deschamps, Quebec's award-winning singer and songwriter who was born with deformities of all four limbs, "rocked the stadium" accompanied by wheelchair painters "painting" the floor in a graffiti-inspired art collage.

Extreme athletes with disabilities wowed the audience in a giant skate park. Toronto pop artist Fefe Dobson sang as Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham and five other athletes performed a series of high-energy tricks and manoeuvres.

In 2006 Fotheringham gained world wide attention when he landed the first 360-degree wheelchair back flip, said a Vancouver 2010 press release.

As the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) flag was raised, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Games were declared open by Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean.

IPC President Sir Philip Craven said, "let us now turn to why we are all here this evening - the athletes. It is you who redefine the possible. You succeed by focusing your minds, driving your bodies and achieving what many would consider the impossible".

Craven noted that his International Olympic Committee (IOC) counterpart Jacques Rogge described the Winter Olympics as "excellent and very friendly". Craven said, "I am confident the same adjectives will be applicable to these Paralympic Winter Games".

Vancouver 2010 chief executive John Furlong said, "to the Paralympic athletes of the world, the best ever, may the days ahead be exhilarating. May this be the beginning of the time of your life".

Near the end of the ceremony Yukon's singer/songwriter Manfred Janssen performed High Wind, signalling the arrival of the Paralympic Flame. The flame entered the stadium and made its way around a ring of torchbearers, accompanied by thousands of lights from the audience.

The Paralympic Cauldron was lit by 15-year-old Zach Beaumont, an avid snowboarder from Delta, British Columbia, who hopes to one day complete for Canada in the Paralympic Winter Games.

The external cauldron near the waterfront was lit at the same time and will remain lit until the closing of the Games. The same security perimeter that was in place for the Olympic Games remains in place as the International Broadcast remains an active venue, said Vancouver 2010.

Rooftop viewing from the adjacent building will be made available to the public during daylight hours.

The Cauldron was also lit Friday in Whistler where there are two major competition venues - the Whistler Paralympic village and the location of the Closing Ceremony.

The competition begins Saturday in Vancouver for ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling, and at Whistler for biathlon and cross-country skiing.

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