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Sochi 2014 Paralymics
By: Parnika Sharma
On Sunday March 16th, the closing ceremonies of the Sochi Paralympics concluded the nine day gathering of an international community of para-athletes from 45 countries around the world.
With an aim of recognizing the talent, courage and determination of athletes with disabilities, the Paralympic games were first created in 1960 with the first summer Paralympics in Rome, Italy. The Paralympic Winter Games currently involves 5 sports – alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling. Canada came in 3rd place, winning 7 gold medals, 2 silvers and 7 bronze.
Perhaps one of the most shocking moments for fans watching all over the world was during the men’s 1 km cross-country skiing visually impaired event. Canadian cross-country skier Brian McKeever was a crowd favourite for the gold medal but after a fall near the beginning of the race, it appeared that this would cost him his chance at placing for a medal. However, with a spectacular return, McKeever managed to get back up and cross the finish line at a time of 3 minutes 59.6 seconds – winning gold.
McKeever was one of the 550 para-athletes competing in the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, who were all celebrated at the closing ceremonies, titled Reaching the Impossible. Although everything about the Paralympics is inspiring and motivating in itself, an exceptionally touching moment was experienced when para-athlete Aleksey Chuvashev, who is missing both legs, climbed a 15 meter rope to place an apostrophe between the glowing letters above him – turning Impossible into I’m possible.