By Jon D. Gaede, BVN Staff –
Just a few days after Canada’s winter games were closed, a new flame was ignited to launch the Paralympic Winter Games of 2010.
Some 50 U.S. athletes joined the parade of nations to proclaim the opening of this years games and the intense competition to follow.
In 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs created the Paralympic Adaptive Sports Program. The initiative was designed to boost morale and promote the type of competition that would produce future Paralympic champions.
The initial concept to gather athletes with physical deficits was the brainchild of Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who saw the virtue of competition among the injured from the battlefields of WWII. By 1960, Rome hosted the first Olympic style international competition.
The Paralympics of today are highly competitive and elite sport events. Equipment, facilities, training and competition mirror the athletes who do not possess physical deficits. From a few hundred athletes in 1960 to some 4,000 Paralympic athletes from 146 countries, competed in the 2008 Beijing games.
Among the athletes who have achieved greatness as Olympians and in life is former champion Bonnie St. John. At age five Bonnie had her leg amputated. This marked the beginning of her focused life journey. Not only did she refuse to allow her physical limitation to define her, she would eventually excel at many things.
NBC Nightly News called Bonnie, “One of the Five Most Inspiring Women in America.”
Bonnie St. John became the first African American woman to win a Paralympic Winter medal. At Innsbruck, Austria 1984, St John won both gold and silver medals in downhill skiing events. NBC Nightly News called Bonnie “One of the Five Most Inspiring Women in America.” Just for good measure, she was chosen among the prestigious as a Rhodes Scholar.
The author of several books and a member of the White House economic team, Bonnie St. John doesn’t slide down hills for medals anymore, she climbs them!
Unfazed by man made limitations, Bonnie St. John is the light of the Olympic flame and all that it promises. Her latest book, “Live Your Joy” an uplifting collection of modern day parables is designed to inspire and guide us through this hectic 21st Century world.
Five military veterans were among the 50 U.S. athletes to compete at Vancouver The U.S. Flag bearer at these games was alpine skier Heath Calhoun. Serving as a squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq, Calhoun was hit by an enemy rocket attack. Heath lost both legs. Determined to serve his country again, he excelled at his sport and skied for the U.S. team on Whistler Mountain. Five military veterans were among the 50 U.S. athletes to compete at Vancouver.
In a tightly contested game at UBC (University of British Columbia) the U.S. ‘Sledge Hockey’ team defeated Japan to win the gold medal on Canadian soil. In the final medal tally, the U.S. won 13 medals. ‘Here come the Russians’, who impressed with a nation leading 38 combined.
The Games have concluded.
We thank our Canadian host for their immaculate planning and sense of style.
Canada’s reputation is secure.
As the snow melts and memories fade, we turn to London (2012) and to Sochi (2014) were once again the World’s athletes will compete in pure athletic competition, which always seems to bring
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