Friday 07/03/14
After the yellow water / no hot water / no water at all disasters of Sochi's $50 billion Olympics,we can only hope that today's eleventh Winter Paralympics go just a little bit better.
Why only the eleventh? Well, snow sports for people with disabilities got off to a slower start than sports where wheelchairs could be used. In fact, it was only in 1974 that there was any international competition for disabled skiers.
Only 47 countries will be competing in the Winter Paralympics, as against 88 in the Winter Olympics. And Paralympians have a choice of only five sports: biathlon, ice sledge hockey, wheelchair curling, and downhill and cross-country skiing.
The best that can be said of disabled rights in Russia is that they're better than gay rights. In the hope the Sochi Paralympics will be the kind of game changer that the London Paralympics were for disability here, we're toasting today's competitors with a Snowfall Martini.
