This just in from the 2010 organizers:

As the world’s top Paralympians gather in Beijing for the 2008 Paralympic Games, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) today announced details of how spectators can start planning to attend some of the most inspirational and affordably priced sporting events in the world — at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

Approximately 250,000 tickets for 52 sport and ceremony events at seven venues, for the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, go on sale on May 6, 2009 on a first-come, first-served basis. Ticket prices start at $10 for group packages of 20 or more people. Eighty-five per cent of all individual tickets are priced at $20 or less. Individual tickets to alpine skiing events will be priced at $15, while wheelchair curling tickets will start at $15 and range up to $30. Ice sledge hockey tickets will range from $20 to $50, and prices for Opening Ceremony tickets will range from $30 to $175. A full range of information on Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games sport disciplines, events and ticket prices is available at www.vancouver2010.com, as is the opportunity to sign up to receive the latest ticketing information as it becomes available. Visa is the exclusive payment method for online ticket purchases.

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The U.S. Ski Team just sent out a ton of quotes from its athletes about the recently concluded summer games in Beijing. It seems all the action inspired them to be ready for 2010:

Here’s what they are saying:

Scott Macartney, 2002 and 2006 Olympian, U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Crystal Mountain, WA
My Olympic experience has been watching clips of Spanish language coverage on mute with them skipping around to any Chilean that did decently while cutting away from events mid-shot, mid-dive, mid-routine … and still riveted to the screen. I enjoyed the track events, watching (Usain) Bolt crush in the 100 and 200 and watching the pole vault. Especially the women’s pole vault, they have to have the best bodies of any sport, as a group, by far.

Scotty Bahrke, 2007 World Cup Rookie of the Year, U.S. Freestyle Aerials Team, Tahoe City, CA
My favorite moment was watching Shawn Johnson on the balance beam when it was her last chance to win a gold medal. I thought that was pretty cool watching all her training come together at the very last possible chance to win the gold.

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From the U.S. Ski Team:

The Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships will return to the slopes of Alaska’s Alyeska Resort this spring, March 24-31, announced the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.

Alaska will host a flurry of competitive ski events this winter as other venues around the state are also hosting national title events as well, including the ConocoPhillips U.S. Cross Country Championships at Kincaid Park in January and the U.S. Cross Country Distance Championships outside Fairbanks in March.

“Alaska is a great place to host U.S. championships,” said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Vice President

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If you are like me the most boring part of the Olympics – summer or winter – is the opening ceremonies. Save the halftime show for halftime.

But Beijing’s opening ceremonies last week were amazing (until the athlete parade. Zzzzzzz.)

So, my hope is China has set a new standard for the opening ceremonies that will make them worth watching from now on.

The man charged with keeping that tradition going is Australia’s David Atkins. He directed the 2000 Sydney Olympics and will do the same in 2010 in Vancouver.

Here’s a statement from the Vancouver Organizing Committee which includes a long conversation with Atkins about the opening ceremonies:

Four billion people will be watching. An Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games is the biggest live production of its kind. There’s pressure to perform, pressure to be imaginative, and for the Host Country, the Opening Ceremony is like inviting the world into your living room.

At the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the world is eager see what Beijing and China will express culturally, and how they want to be perceived going forward. Australia’s David Atkins knows how big that task can be.

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A statement released today from VANOC from the opening ceremonies in Beijing:

As the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad concluded, members of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia offered the following personal impressions on the evening’s spectacular event (all were in attendance):

David Emerson, Minister of Foreign Affairs representing Government of Canada:

“What a proud night for China and for all Canadians as we get ready to be the next host and share that same stage

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The 2009 U.S. Alpine Ski Team named it’s 2009 World Cup roster today. Here it is:

A TEAM

Men

Jimmy Cochran (5/29/81; Keene, NH; Cochran’s/Mount Mansfield Ski & Snowboard Club)

Ted Ligety (8/31/84; Park City, UT; Park City Ski Team)

Scott Macartney (1/19/78; Crystal Mountain, WA; Crystal Mountain Alpine Club)

Steven Nyman (2/12/82; Provo, UT; Park City Ski Team/Sundance)

Marco Sullivan (4/27/80; Squaw Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

Women

Stacey Cook (7/3/84; Mammoth, CA; Mammoth Mountain Ski Team)

Julia Mancuso (9/9/84; Olympic Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

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Here’s a Q&A with mogul skier Shannon Bahrke courtesy of Juliann Fritz of the U.S. Ski Team:

Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) is by no means your average moguls skier. The Olympic silver medalist may seem like she runs bumps all day long, but with a passion for things like coffee, race cars, music and the color pink, Bahrke turns the ordinary into the extraordinary in a way only she knows how.

So, you were out for the 2008 season with an injury, but now you’re back. What’s your favorite part of being back with the team?

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