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./.