NEWS FROM VANCOUVER 2010 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES

On schedule, and ahead of schedule, the Canadian Pacific Spirit Train arrived at the Sinclair Park Community Centre in Winnipeg today in promotion of the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) officially launched the Vancouver Venues’ Aboriginal Art Programme earlier this month. This ambitious programme for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games will provide a platform for Aboriginal artists in Canada to participate in the Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) is significantly closer to its goal of hosting doping-free Games in 2010 with two major announcements on the anti-doping programme and laboratory for the 2010 Winter Games.

Six months ago, Miga, Quatchi and Sumi were introduced as the official mascots of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The three friends have since travelled the country, met with celebrities, taken hundreds of photos and are now ready to expand their interactive website.

Vancouver, Canada - From 14 to 16 May, the third official Project Review was held between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

Yesterday, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) celebrated the two-year countdown to the Paralympic Winter Games with activities in Vancouver and Whistler.

Bonn, Germany – With less than two years to go before the Opening of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Co-ordination Commission, including International Paralympic Committee (IPC) representative Rita van Driel, successfully concluded its sixth visit to Vancouver, the host city of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Construction has been completed on all three of the Whistler Olympic and Paralympic competition venues. Thanks to the efforts of a 2,500-strong workforce recruited from across British Columbia and Canada, athletes will be able to train at these venues more than two years before the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games start. The venues in Whistler will offer a legacy for high performance and recreational use, both before and long after the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) yesterday announced it is looking for proposals from artists all around the world interested in designing the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic medals.

Bonn, Germany - Months of mystery and anticipation finally ended yesterday as hundreds of local schoolchildren were the first to personally meet Sumi, Miga and Quatchi, the mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.

On 28 September, the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) launched an online educational tool that reaches out to schools and universities throughout Canada.

On 21 September, around 750 employees of the world class-ship builder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) gathered, together with their families and friends, at the FSG shipyard in Flensburg, Germany, to participate in the official launch of the first vessel built for Canadian shipping company B.C. Ferries.