2010 Paralympics

X Paralympic Winter Games

"Man becomes Mountain", emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games
Host city	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Motto	With glowing hearts / Des plus brillants exploits
Nations participating	44
Athletes participating	506
Events	64 in 5 sports
Opening ceremony	March 12
Closing ceremony	March 21
Officially opened by	Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean
Athlete's Oath	Hervé Lord
Paralympic torch	Zach Beaumont
Paralympic stadium	BC Place
Winter:
<  Turin 2006 Sochi 2014  >
Summer:
<  Beijing 2008 London 2012  >

The 2010 Winter Paralympics, officially the X Paralympic Winter Games (French: Les Xes Jeux paralympiques d'hiver), or the 10th Winter Paralympics, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada from March 12 to 21, 2010. The Opening Ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing Ceremony in Whistler. With a theme of "One Inspires Many," the Opening Ceremony featured over 5000 local performers. Fifteen-year-old snowboarder Zach Beaumont, who is an amputee, was the final torch bearer and lit the Games Cauldron. The 2 hours live ceremony was produced by Vancouver-based Patrick Roberge Productions Inc.

This was the first time Canada hosted the Winter Paralympic Games and second time it hosted the Paralympics – the first was the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto.

On June 7, 2006, Prince Edward, as a member of the Canadian Royal Family and patron of the British Paralympic Association, raised the flag of the Paralympic Games outside Vancouver City Hall.

Brian McKeever of Canada became the first athlete to be named in a Winter Paralympics and Winter Olympics team in the same year, although he did not compete in the Olympic Games. (At the 2010 Winter Olympics, he was scheduled to compete in the men's 50 km cross-country race, but the coach replaced him with a skier who did well at an earlier event.) At the Paralympics, he competed in Cross-country skiing and Biathlon.