Vancouver 2010: A look back
21.03.2013To honour the third anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games on Thursday (21 March), here’s a look back at the numbers and top performers.
IPC President Sir Philip Craven deemed Vancouver 2010 as the best Paralympic Winter Games ever.
© • Lieven Coudenys
Alexi Salamone was just 22 years old when he won his first Paralympic gold medal with the USA's ice sledge hockey team at the Vancouver 2010 Games.
© • Getty Images
Germany's Verena Bentele and her guide Thomas Friedrich won the gold medal during the women's 12.5km visually impaired biathlon at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.
© • Getty Images
Russia's Irek Zaripov won the gold medal during the men's 10km sitting cross country at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.
© • Getty Images
The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games ticket sales reached an all-time high of 230,000.
Thursday (21 March) marks exactly three years to the day that the last Paralympic Winter Games came to a close in Vancouver.
To honour the third anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Games, here is a quick glance back:
By the numbers
Countries: 44
Athletes: 502
Medal events: 64
Sports: 5
Spectators: 230,000
Cumulated TV audience: 1.6 billion
Volunteers: 6,100
Top five medal count
1. Germany – 24 (13 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze)
2. Russia – 38 (12 gold, 16 silver, 10 bronze)
3. Canada – 19 (10 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze)
4. Slovakia – 11 (6 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)
5. Ukraine – 19 (5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze)
Top performances
Verena Bentele (Germany, nordic skiing): The visually impaired skier won five gold medals in what would be her final Paralympic Winter Games, including two in biathlon and three in cross-country skiing.
Gerd Schoenfelder (Germany, alpine skiing): The standing skier claimed four golds and a silver on the slopes, moving his overall Paralympic medal total to 22.
Lauren Woolstencroft (Canada, alpine skiing): The host nation’s top alpine skier won five gold medals in the women’s standing competition.
Irek Zaripov (Russia, nordic skiing): The Russian left Vancouver with four golds – two in cross-country skiing and two in biathlon – as well as a silver in cross-country.
Brian McKeever (Canada, nordic skiing): Easily one of Canada’s faces of the Games, McKeever won gold in three different cross-country events in the men’s visually impaired class and is on par to do the same at Sochi 2014.
USA ice sledge hockey team: Behind top play from Steve Cash and Taylor Chace, the Americans claimed Paralympic gold after going undefeated in Vancouver and defeating Japan in the gold-medal game.
Canada wheelchair curling team: The home team finished pool play with a 7-2 record and then went on to beat Korea 8-7 in the gold-medal match.
