Official website of the Paralympic Movement
To mark one year to go until the next Paralympic Winter Games, IPC President Sir Philip Craven has challenged Sochi 2014 not to try and emulate what happened in London six months ago, but to build on the success of the 2010 Winter Games.
Sir Philip Craven addresses the world's media at London 2012
© • Marcus Hartmann
Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games
© • Sochi 2014
"Ice Cube" Curling Centre is one of the venues for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games
© • Alina Pavlyuchik, World Curling Federation
“Having recently attended the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, Spain, I have to say I cannot wait for Sochi 2014 to start.”
At the Vancouver 2010 Closing Ceremony, Sir Philip described them as the best Winter Paralympics to date and in a blog for www.paralympic.org has said he is already counting down the days to the Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony.
“Having recently attended the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, Spain, I have to say I cannot wait for Sochi 2014 to start,” said Sir Philip.
“This will be Russia’s first home Paralympic Games and I am confident that Sochi 2014 President Dmitry Chernyshenko and his team will be leaving no stone unturned in delivering the best Games they possibly can.
“They have a lot of work to undertake between now and 7 March 2014 when the Games begin, and I am sure that the on-going test events will be a significant learning experience for all involved.
“As with all our events, we have to continue moving forward and making progress. I hope in 12 months time in Sochi I can say afterwards that Russia’s first Paralympic Games helped continue the exponential growth the Paralympic Movement has enjoyed since 1960.”
Over the next two weeks test events are taking place in Sochi in para-snowboard, alpine skiing and Nordic skiing whilst an ice sledge hockey test event is scheduled for August. Wheelchair curling had its test event in February when the Ice Cube Curling Centre in the Olympic Park staged the World Championships, which were eventually won by Canada.
Next year’s Paralympic Winter Games will feature up to 692 athletes from 45 countries who will compete in 72 medal events across five sports. On current form, Sir Philip believes the home nation will be the team to beat and claims medal success could have a significant impact on Russian society.
“As this is Russia’s first Paralympics on home soil, I suspect the national team will go all out to win as many medals as possible. Quite simply they have the potential to be Russia’s most successful team at any sporting event judging by recent results,” said the IPC President highlighting Russia’s recent success at both the IPC Nordic and Alpine Skiing World Championships.
“History shows that home medal success at a Paralympic Games generates widespread media coverage and Russia should be no different. As shown in London, widespread positive media coverage, positioning medal-winning athletes as role models has the potential to change perceptions, shift attitudes and inspire a generation.
“I know my good friend Dmitry Chernyshenko has witnessed such results first hand now at a number of Paralympic Games and he will be determined to repeat such success in Sochi and across Russia. Initiatives such as the Paralympic Awareness Programme and award-winning accessibility map will go some way in delivering this,” Sir Philip added.
The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games which open on 7 March 2014 will be broadcast in more countries than ever before thanks to recently announced deals with UK broadcaster Channel 4 and EBU.
To read Sir Philip Craven’s One Year to Go blog in full, please visit www.paralympic.org/MediaCentre/blogs-archive
12.08.2013
12.08.2013
12.08.2013
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11.08.2013
