Paralympics Game Day Logistics; or VANOC Should be Ashamed
I wrote an entry on the same subject regarding the Olympic games. The time commitment required for the Paralympics is just as taxing as that required for the Paralympics, but for different reasons.
VANOC should be utterly ashamed: according to its promises to host both games, it ought to be providing adequate and relatively equal support in relation to scope for the Paralympics, as it did for the Olympic games.
It has not done so. Nor have the media outlets and sponsors committed to the games. While this might not be a surprise for the general public, it should be of concern, and we should hold certain committees and corporations to task for purposefully dropping the ball in this area.
There is no Olympic bus network for the Paralympic games. I’ve called VANOC several times regarding transportation for the Paralympics, and the operators are not even informed of the travel options for those who are tourists in Vancouver to attend these games. Even though I was very clear that I do not know how to drive, two operators reiterated that I could drive my car to the Paralympic Games and this was the transportation service open to me.
The reality of the affair is that I am, as someone who is a tourist and does not have a driver’s license, dependent on Greyhound bus service from Vancouver to Whistler, and will be for 7 out of the 10 days of the Paralympics.
This is significant, as Greyhound has not allotted any extra buses to accommodate demand for the Paralympics, and it does not orient its bus schedule around the Paralympic competition times. OK, so what does that mean, really?
It means that on Saturday, because I needed to be back in Vancouver for 7pm, and my cross-country skiing event at Whistler Paralympic Park was scheduled for 10am to 2pm, I needed a 4:45am wake-up call, for a 5:15am taxi to the Greyhound bus terminal in Vancouver, which insists you arrive at the terminal and stand out in the cold for one hour before your bus departs. No matter that I had phoned VANOC about their transportation options half a dozen times, no one told me that once my bus arrived in Whistler Village (late, at 8:50am) the shuttle I would need to board took us 35-40 minutes away to the competition venue and then a 20-minute hike awaited us on top of that. I was in my seat at 10:15am (the competition started at 10am). Although I greatly enjoyed the biathlon that I was able to see, I needed to leave my seat at 11:30am to be ready at 11:50am to board the shuttle that would take me to Whistler Village to catch the Greyhound bus leaving at 1:30pm to get me into town before 7pm (the next bus time could not guarantee this). So understand that I spent over 8 hours in transit to account for just over 1 hour of sporting event. This is ridiculous. Especially when it could have been avoided.
VANOC has decided not to run the Olympic bus network. Not only does that mean that it is encouraging travelers to take cars rather than environmentally friendly buses, but it also means that traffic is clogged in Whistler, irritating tourists and locals alike, and the price tag of attending events, and the hassle of attending events is much higher. (I am paying a lot more to attend the Whistler events in travel costs than I did during the Olympics—I explained to VANOC ticket agents that they were actively discouraging people from attending the Paralympics and should be ashamed of this, but found little sympathy or response.)
I was, therefore, heartened to see an article in today’s National Post of all places lamenting the lack of Paralympic coverage on television. I did not realize that CTV only aired the Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver (not nationally) and that there is very little media coverage of the games at all in Canada. While Bruce Arthur, the writer of the article, is sympathetic to the counter-argument that “that’s just the reality” of the situation, I am not. I don’t have cable at home. I consider it criminal to pay for advertising, and therefore stick to public television and movie rentals. When I am travelling, however, I sometimes indulge in a little cable and digital TV.
Is this a luxury? I find that I spend at least one hour simply finding something worth watching other than terrible reality TV and celebrity gossip shows. Are our television networks trying to tell us that the Opening Ceremonies of the Paralympic Games and the events are not as compelling as a bunch of desperate idiots primping themselves for a date with a vacuous moron? If so, our whole country needs massive therapy.
The Paralympics are not going to gain popularity, and therefore make large corporations a lot of sponsorship paybacks, if they are not experienced in a significant way by the public. This can’t happen through newspaper articles alone. Newspaper articles offer readers medal standings, little else. Certainly not the experience of attending and witnessing the Paralympic games and related events.
I took my friend, poet Sonnet L’Abbé, to the slalom events yesterday. She, admittedly, would not have considered attending the Paralympic games if not for my involvement. Nevertheless, within minutes of watching the astonishing downhill weight-balancing of sit-skiing, Sonnet asked me if it was possible that the Paralympics were more fascinating than the Olympics. Well, yes, actually. In fact, I know several sports advocates who are convinced that those involved with the Olympics (not the athletes, but the bureaucrats and business people) are afraid of the Paralympics. The Paralympics have greater stories of overcoming adversity, greater personalities, and the ways in which each participant uses personal training and technology to compensate for physical limitation offer unique approaches to each sport. For a spectator, these circumstances allow for a rich, varied experience of the events. I can’t believe a person can do that, is a frequently expressed comment, much like what one overhears in extreme sporting events, not conventional regularized sport.
And VANOC has decided that security is not important either. I am no longer searched as I enter a venue, even though I am carrying a backpack. I guess they don’t consider our disabled athletes terrorist targets? I really don’t understand it. And there are not enough volunteers to deal with the crowds (yes, there actually are crowds at some events), and several seem more interested in trading pins with spectators than operating the games. I say this because I actually witnessed a Russian man with a large flag on a pole, not only dismiss several requests from volunteers to sit in his designated seat, but this man threw his flag at the cross-country skier heading to the finish line for a gold medal. I gasped and called to others—as he nearly hit the skier who did go on to win a gold medal—but the flag remained on the track for several minutes before someone went to retrieve it. The man was not removed from the venue for some time, if at all, though he had seriously jeopardized athlete safety and the results of the event.
VANOC, be ashamed. Today, I witnessed Brian McKeever win the first Paralympic gold on Canadian soil, skiing with his brother guide, Robin McKeever. Brian is one of the most decorated Paralympic athletes in history. The country should have witnessed this feat, live. Even if they have yet to learn the rules of Paralympic sport, such as that you cheer with your hands for the visually impaired because you don’t want to interfere with the communication with their guides. Those who attended, including myself, still need more training in that area. We couldn’t help cheering as we watched the brothers make history. We couldn’t help being proud, no matter how many people have done their damnedest to render their accomplishments irrelevant. No matter that Vancouver has made a killing off hosting these games. And that includes the Paralympians.
Photo: Team McKeever
