By Tom Scott
In March, Paralympic athletes will use the same stages and arenas that Olympic athletes will use this month, including the architecturally stunning Olympic Stadium.
Quick Facts
The IX Paralympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, from March 10 to 19, will feature the adaptive sports of Alpine skiing, sled hockey, Nordic skiing, and wheelchair curling. There are 534 athletes from 41 countries expected to compete in 58 medal events in front of an estimated 250,000 spectators. The games will be played at four different venues: Torino (Opening Ceremony and Sled Hockey), Pinerolo Palaghiaccio (Wheelchair Curling), Sestriere-Borgata (Alpine Skiing), and Pragelato (Nordic Skiing). Two fully accessible Paralympic Villages will be set up in Sestriere and Torino. The Paralympic Games occur one month after the start of the XX Olympic Winter Games, scheduled for February 10 to 26, also in Torino.
The City of Torino
Torino is located in northern Italy at the foot of the Alps, where the Po and Dora Riparia rivers converge. It is a major industrial center and one of the most economically active and populated regions of Europe. Caselle, the City’s airport is a major European hub, serving 17 million passengers per year. Torino also has five railway stations, two of which are international, linking the City to other cities throughout Italy as well as bordering countries.
History of the Games
The Paralympic Games, the pinnacle of athletic competition for individuals with disabilities, originated in 1944, when Dr. Ludwig Guttmann introduced competitive adaptive sports to injured WWII veterans at the Spinal Cord Injuries Center at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Great Britain. Guttman’s initiative led to the creation of the International Stoke Mandeville Games, which began in 1952.
The first official Paralympic Games were played in 1960 in Rome, Italy. That year, 400 athletes from 23 nations competed. In 1976, the Paralympic Winter Games were introduced in Sweden. The Paralympics are the second largest spectator sport in the world next to the Olympic Games. Nearly 1.2 million tickets were sold and over 300 million people in 100 countries watched the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games on television.
The Paralympic Games have always been held the same year as the Olympic Games, and, since the Seoul Paralympic Games of 1988 and the Albertville Paralympic Winter Games of 1992, both have been played at the same venues.
Event Schedule
Village Opening………………..March 4
Opening Ceremonies………..March 10
Alpine Skiing……………………March 11-14, 16-19
Biathlon…………………………..March 11, 14
Cross-Country Skiing………March 10-18
Sled Hockey…………………….March 12, 15, 17-19
Wheelchair Curling………….March 12-18
Closing Ceremonies…………March 19
Village Closing…………………March 22
How They Play
Biathlon
Biathlon combines the sports of cross-country skiing and target shooting. The competition includes short- and long-distance events, ranging from 7.5 km to 12.5 km on 2.5 km looped courses. Upon completing each loop, athletes must use air guns mounted on stands to shoot targets that are 10 m away. Missed targets result in the athletes either having to ski a 150 m penalty loop or take penalty shots, affecting their total race time.
Competitors include individuals with physical disabilities and visual impairments. Athletes with physical disabilities use sit-skis or one or two skis and/or poles. Athletes with visual impairments compete with guides that ski either beside or behind them, providing verbal instructions. When shooting, visually impaired skiers utilize a sound system that emits a signal indicating when their gun is aimed at the target. The strength of the signal indicates proximity to the center of the target.
Wheelchair Curling
Curling, a game invented in 16th century Scotland, is a precision sport similar to bowls or bocce, but played on ice with polished heavy stones rather than plastic balls. The first curling club in the United States began in 1832, and the game was introduced to Switzerland and Sweden before the end of the 19th century. Presently, curling is played all over Europe, as well as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China and Korea. It is most popular in Canada.
Wheelchair curling, which is similar to the able- bodied version with the exception of a no-sweeping rule, will debut at the Torino 2006 Paralympic Games at Pinerolo Palaghiaccio, 36 km southwest of Torino. Played in 16 countries, the sport is open to athletes with spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and leg amputation. Teams must be comprised of both male and female players.
Sled Hockey
Sled hockey, the adaptive version of ice hockey, debuted in the Lillehammer 1994 Paralympics. The game generally follows International Ice Hockey Federation (IFC) rules, however, the players use two- blade sleds and two shortened sticks for pushing and shooting. In order to compete, players must have lower limb disabilities.
The 7-day competition will be hosted at Torino Esposizioni, 5 km from the Athletes Village in Torino. This venue consists of competition and warm-up rinks and a 5,000 seating capacity, of which 450 are allocated for individuals with disabilities.
Nordic (Cross-Country) Skiing
Cross-country skiing events consist of classical and freestyle competition, including: 2.5 km, 5 km, 10 km, 15 km, and 3 x 2.5 km relay for women and 5 km, 10 km, 15 km, 20 km, 3 x 2.5 km relay, and 4 x 5 km relay for men. Competitors are comprised of athletes with
In March, Paralympic athletes will use the same stages and arenas that Olympic athletes will use this month, including the architecturally stunning Olympic Stadium. physical and intellectual disabilities and visual impairments.
Alpine (Downhill) Skiing
Alpine skiing events consist of the downhill, super giant slalom, giant slalom, and slalom. Competitors are comprised of athletes with physical disabilities and visual impairments. Similar to cross-country skiing events, those with visual impairments use guides that ski either beside or behind them, providing verbal instructions on slope and direction. Athletes with physical disabilities use sit-skis or one or two skis and/or poles.
The Alpine skiing competition will take place at Sestriere-Borgata, a winter resort located 90 km from Torino and 2 km from the Athletes Village in Sestriere.
