We take you behind the scenes this month with our timely Vancouver Games Blog, an insider perspective on sport medicine and science headlines, talking points, statistical data and emerging trends.
Technology is helping Canada’s Paralympians to compete at phenomenal levels – some rivaling their Olympian counterparts as Randy Shore explains in an article in today’s Vancouver Sun:
Canadian para-alpine skiers are using a modified competition moto-cross shock with a dual damper system that rivals if not surpasses the best technology in the world.
“These guys fly,” Tardif [Gaetan Tardif, assistant chef de mission for the Canadian Paralympic team] said. “The Paralympics uses the women’s Olympic downhill course and we know how fast our Olympic women go. Well, some of these guys go faster.”
On the same course, Chris Williamson goes more than 130 km/h. The top male Olympians reach speeds of over 140 km/h. Williamson has 10-per-cent vision, all of it peripheral. Using a guide and radio instructions about what lies ahead, he’s one of the fastest skiers in the world.
Canada’s Top Secret program — a national program to improve the technology used by Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes — has made a “phenomenal” difference in performance, said Canadian Paralympic Committee high performance director Rob Needham.
Read the full article here.
