| 2010 Winter Paralympics |
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| IPC · CPC · VANOC |
The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Paralympics was held on March 12, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm PST (02:00 UTC, March 13) at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean,[1] representative of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.[2]
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Canada's national anthem, "O Canada", was performed by singer Terry Kelly, a blind former Paralympian. Mari Klassen signed the anthem in American Sign Language (ASL). Hundreds of children stood in the shape of a maple leaf in a formation.[3]
The participating countries marched in, with Andorra coming first, and the nations entered in alphabetical order of their country names in English, and ending with the host nation, Canada. Canada has the greatest number of athletes with 55.
The flag was carried into the stadium. It was then transferred to members of the Canadian Forces' Soldier On program: Sgt. Karen McCoy, and Master Cpl. Mike Trauner, who then raised the flag.[6]
Canadian ice sledge hockey player Herve Lord took the athlete's oath as a representative of each of the participating Paralympic competitors.[6] Canadian curling official Linda Kirton took the official's oath on behalf of each officiating Paralympic referee or other official.[7]
Live broadcast:
The ceremony was aired live on ParalympicSport.TV, and approximately two hours after it ended, it became available as Video on Demand (VOD).[1]
Delayed coverage: