NAGANO, Japan - It is often called the "other" Olympics, but the 32 disabled Canadian athletes who competed at the 1998 Paralympic Games didn't want to be remembered as an afterthought. "Our team was very excited that we won 15 medals at the Olympics," alpine skier Ian Balfour, 19, said entering the 10-day competition held this March. "It really
pumped us up. Like the Olympics, the Paralympics is a huge event for us and I think no matter the opposition you have to maintain a high level of intensity." Their effort was obvious.
The Canadian Paralympians duplicated the medal output of their Olympic
counterparts, earning a team record 15 medals. Saskatoon native Colette Bourgonje brought home Canada's first medal of the games. Bourgonje captured the silver in the women's 2.5 kilometre sit skiing cross-country race, finishing with a time of 10:36.8. It was her first career Paralympic medal, and she later captured a second silver in the
5 km sit ski.
The lone gold of the games went to Daniel Wesley, whose 11.71 was tops in
the super G sit ski. Wesley also bronze in the men's downhill. It was Stacy Kohut's silver medal in the men's sit ski slaloms which broke the national medal record. Kohut's time was actually faster than that of gold medalist Jurgen Egle of Austria, but it was adjusted due to degree of disability to result in the second place finish. The Calgary native collected a pair of other medals in Nagano - silvers in the super G and giant slalom. "Breaking the record is fantastic," the 27-year-old Kohut said. "But we have another big goal. To win more medals than the Olympic team. That would be an amazing accomplishment considering what a great team they were."
While they did not surpass the efforts of the Canadian Olympians, the Paralympians did equal it with one gold, nine silver, and five bronze. Other medal winners from the "other" Nagano games included Karolina Wisniewska, with silvers in the women's super G and giant slalom and Marilyn Winder, who won a silver in the super G and bronze in both the slalom and giant slalom. Mark Ludbrook won bronze in the men's super G, as did Ramona Hoh in the women's version. The Canadian sledge hockey squad battled their way to the finals, but fell 2-0 to Norway and had to settle for silver.
The Paralympic Games is a multi-sport competition for handicapped or disabled athletes which carries on the Olympic ideals of sportsmanship,
competition, and unity. The Winter Games are held every four years and are traditionally held in the Olympic host city. This year, the Nagano games ran from March 5-14.
In 1994, Canada put forth an eight-medal performance. Canadian Chef de Mission Patrick Jarvis called this year's squad "one of the strongest Paralympic teams we've ever put together" prior to the games. They did not disappoint.
