The Winter Games in Vancouver will be held from 12 to 21 March 2010. Already in 2009 there are scheduled test events that will be taking place and giving the spectators in the area, as well as the rest of the world an idea of what to expect at the upcoming Games. The Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee is preparing itself for a string of four major events that will occur in just four months time.

Beginning on 21 February, the World Wheelchair Curling Championships will be held over an eight-day period at the Vancouver Paralympic Centre. Following the World Wheelchair Curling Championships will be the Ice Sledge Hockey Four Nations Tournament from 24 February to 1 March at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbird Arena.

Nearby, in Whistler, the IPC Biathlon and Cross-Country World Cup will be held from 4 to 7 March at the Whistler Paralympic Park. And just two days following this World Cup, from 9 to 14 March, will be the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals at Whistler Creekside.

These four test events will not only provide the athletes a suitable and realistic experience that prepares each of them ultimately for the Winter Games, but they allow organizers the opportunity to view the venues in action.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) was established on 30 September 2003. The Committee’s mandate is to support and promote the development of sport in Canada by planning, organizing, financing and staging the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

The Vancouver 2010 mission is to touch the soul of the nation and inspire the world by creating and delivering an extraordinary Olympic and Paralympic experience with lasting legacies.

For more information about the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, please visit www.vancouver2010.com.