Portal:Winter Paralympics
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File:Paralympic cauldron 2010.jpg
The Paralympic flame in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Paralympics
The Winter Paralympics began in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Those Games were the first Paralympics (Summer or Winter) that featured athletes other than wheelchair athletes. The Games have expanded and grown to be (along with the Summer Games) part of the largest international sporting event after the Olympic Games. Given their expansion the need for a very specific classification system has arisen. This system has also given rise to controversy and opened the door for cheating. Winter Paralympians have also been convicted of steroid use and other forms of cheating unique to Paralympic athletes, which has tainted the integrity of the Games. Template:/box-footer Did you know? -
Selected sport -Paralympic cross-county skiing is an adaptation of cross-country skiing for athletes with a disability. Paralympic cross-country skiing is one of two Nordic skiing disciplines in the Winter Paralympic Games. It is governed by the International Paralympic Committee. Selected classification -LW9 is a para-Alpine and para-Nordic standing skiing sport class, a classification defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC for people with upper and lower limb function problems, and includes cerebral palsy skiers classified CP5, CP6 and CP7, along with people with hemiplegia or amputations. For international skiing competitions, classification is done through IPC Alpine Skiing or IPC Nordic Skiing. A national federation such as Alpine Canada handles classification for domestic competitions. This classification is separated into two subclasses including LW9.1 and LW9.2. Para-Alpine skiers in this classification have their choice regarding how many skis and ski poles they wish to user, along with the type of ski poles they wish to utilize. In para-Nordic skiing, skiers use two skis and have an option to use one or two ski poles. Outriggers are one type of ski pole LW9 skiers can use, which requires its own techniques to use. As there are a broad range of disabilities in this class, different skiing techniques are learned by competitors. Skiers missing an arm use a technique that corrects lateral balance issues resulting from the missing arm. Skiers with cerebral palsy have the introduction of ski poles delayed as skiers may overgrip them. A factoring system is used in the sport to allow different classes to compete against each other when there are too few individual competitors in one class in a competition. During the 2011/2012 para-Alpine ski season, the LW9.1 factoring was 0.855 for slalom, 0.8648 for giant slalom, 0.867 for super-G and 0.8769 for downhill, and for LW9.2 was 0.9287 for slalom, 0.9439 for giant slalom, 0.9443 for super-G and 0.9552 for downhill. In para-Nordic skiing, the percentage for the 2012/2013 ski season was 85-95% for classic and 82-96% for free. This classification has competed in its own separate events at the Paralympics and World Championships during the 1990s, but this changed during the 2000s. Skiers in this classification include Australian James Patterson, and French LW9.2 skier Solène Jambaqué. Selected Games -Great Britain competed at the 1992 Winter Paralympics held in Tignes and Albertville, France, the first Winter Paralympics to be celebrated concurrently with the Winter Olympic Games. The British team entered athletes in all three disciplines contested at the Games; eleven in alpine skiing, four in biathlon and three in cross-country skiing. Five medals were won by British athletes, one silver and four bronze, meaning Britain placed fifteenth in the medal table. This remains Great Britain's second best Winter Paralympic medal total after the 1984 Winter Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria, where the team won ten medals. All five medals were won in alpine skiing events, two by Richard Burt and three by Matthew Stockford. In addition to the medal performances the team had fourteen top ten finishes. The achievements of the British Paralympic team at the 1992 Winter Games helped to raise awareness of sports for disabled athletes. Selected biography -Jessica Gallagher (born 14 March 1986) is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier and track and field athlete. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Winter Paralympics. She is legally blind, and represents Australia internationally in two sports: skiing and athletics. In skiing, she won a bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics. In athletics, she has represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympics and won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2011 Christchurch IPC Athletics World Championships in long jump and javelin, respectively. She has also represented the state of Victoria as a junior in netball and basketball. Template:/box-header Portal:Winter Paralympics/Birthdays/April 25 Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header Selected video -
Featured lists: 2010 Winter Paralympics medal table Featured pictures:Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header
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