The 2018 Pyeongchange Paralympic Games are underway in South Korea, providing a feast for anyone who loves great athletic competition.
Brian McKeever, a 13-time Paralympic medalist, leads the 55-member Canadian Paralympic team into Pyeongchange Olympic Stadium on Friday. McKeever, a Para nordic star, has won 13 Paralympic medals, including 10 golds. (cbc.ca)
The athletes are extraordinary, the competition fierce–as anyone who has ever witnessed the Paralympics will attest.
These Games are set to be the biggest in history. with
A record 567 athletes from 48 countries, plus the Neutral Paralympic Athlete delegation, will compete in 80 medal events in six Winter Paralympic sports.
The opening ceremonies took place Friday when athletes, training staff, coaches and officials marched into Pyeongchange Olympic Stadium to be greeted by entertainers and a giant light and fireworks display, culminating in the lighting of the Paralympic cauldron.
(One political note: the North and South Korean teams did not participate as their counterparts did last month at the Pyeongchange Games last month.)
Canada’s Paralympic team marches into the Pyeongchang athletes’ village for an official Canadian flag raising ceremony Thursday in advance of the Games. (Sasa Petricic/CBC News)
Canada, which is sending 55 athletes, was led by flagbearer and Para nordic star Brian McKeever, winner of 13 Paralympic medals, including 10 golds.
Ironically, the 38-year-old McKeever had never participated in an opening ceremony before because he normally competes on the first day of the Games.
Canada has won 135 medals, including 43 gold, since the first Winter Paralympic Games were held Winter in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in February 1976.
The Games run until next Sunday, March 18.
With files from CBC
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