IPC launches new-look homepage for Sochi 2014

With the Sochi 2014 Paralympics approaching, the IPC are expecting a record number of users to Paralympic.org by the end of 2014.

With just two days to go until the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has launched a special-look Sochi 2014 homepage on Paralympic.org that will include all the top news coming out of Sochi.

In addition to headline news, features, popular videos and Samsung video blogs from the athletes, during the Paralympics the new homepage will include a livestream video player, results from all sports and an updated medals table.

The live results section will offer fans and media all the information and statistics they need in regards to race times, start lists, game scores and player statistics.

Paralympic.org will show more than 300 hours of uninterrupted live coverage from the Sochi 2014 Paralympics from 7-16 March across five HD channels.

There will be 575 athletes from 45 countries competing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, contesting 72 sets of medals across five sports.

All five sports will be covered – alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling – with snowboard to be a discipline under the alpine skiing umbrella. The action will feature English commentary, and both the Opening and Closing Ceremony will be covered live, too.

The livestream will be develivered via Ocotoshape, an industry leader in cloud-based streaming technology, ensuring the highest quality multi-screen video delivery of the Games to a global audience.

Following each competition day, all of the action will be made available as video on demand on the IPC’s YouTube Channel, ParlaympicSport.TV, with ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling matches to be viewable in full. Highlights packages from each sport will also be made available.

During the Games the IPC website will feature up-to-date biographies of every single athlete competing at Sochi 2014 and a team of photographers will also provide thousands of images.

A mobile optimised version of Paralympic.org has also been launched to allow for a better user experience.

Powered by the IPC’s Worldwide Paralympic Partner, Atos, the mobile-optimised website translates page content to fit on a mobile screen on all devices, including smartphones and tablets. The mobile website makes it easier for users to navigate through news, images, videos, results and other information about the Paralympic Movement.

Craig Spence, IPC Director of Communications and Media, said: “With our website numbers doubling by the year, we are hoping our mobile website can enhance the user experience and further increase the number of visitors to Paralympic.org on a weekly basis.

“This will also allow fans and media quicker access to the latest news, features, videos and results at their fingertips.”

Currently, 47.75 per cent of Paralympic.org users access the website on mobile devices, with 28.9 per cent using tablets and 18.85 per cent using other mobile devices such as smart phones.

With the Sochi 2014 Paralympics approaching, the IPC are expecting a record number of users to Paralympic.org by the end of 2014.