IPC Reveals Finalists for Exemplary Paralympic Games Official Award

21 Oct 2011

Five officials have been named finalists for the Exemplary Paralympic Games Official Category for the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) 2011 Paralympic Sport Awards, proudly partnered by the IPC’s International Partner, Allianz.

The award will be presented by the IPC to one male or female Paralympic Games official who demonstrated the utmost leadership at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games.

Finalists for the award include:

• Markus Walser (Canada): Walser was the Chief of race director for the Alpine Skiing competition at Vancouver 2010 and has been closely linked to the incredible success of the event. Working hand-in-hand with the IPC Sport Technical Committee in his position of Head of Technical Control and Officiating in bringing the sport to a new level of professionalism, he helped develop and enforce rules for the sport, equipment and race co-ordination.

• Hans Peter Neeser (Switzerland): Vancouver 2010 marked Neeser’s third Winter Games serving as an IPC Technical Delegate for Biathlon and an assistant for Cross-Country Skiing. This role, in conjunction with his position as Head of Technical Control for the Nordic Skiing Sport Technical Committee, made him the primary point of contact for all technical matters at the Whistler Paralympic Park venue.

• Christian Egli (Switzerland): As the IPC Technical Delegate for Cross-Country Skiing and an assistant for Biathlon, Egli helped develop the sit-ski sprint course for Vancouver 2010 and contributed to the newly created IPC Nordic Skiing point system. Vancouver 2010 was his final event as a Games official after many years of supporting the IPC at the Paralympic Games and various World Championship events.

• Len Apedaile (Canada): As the sport manager for the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee for Nordic Skiing, Apedaile acted in a critical role to maintain successful operations of the event both prior to and during the Games.

• Anne Lannem (Norway): Lannem was the chief classifier for Nordic Skiing at Vancouver 2010, in addition to being Head of Classification for the Nordic Skiing Sport Technical Committee. She organized classification in the seasons prior up to the Games and served in the classification leadership role during the event.

The award winner will be announced during a special ceremony held in conjunction with the 2011 IPC General Assembly in Beijing, China, in December.