September 5/08 9:00 am - Paralympics Pre-Games Update

Posted by Editor on 09/5/08
 

Paralympics Pre-Games Update

Head coach Luc Arseneau has provided the following update and photos

We can feel it, exactly 24 hours before the opening ceremonies; the atmosphere is changing in the Paralympic village. This is something you can see, and feel from high level athletes; athletes who are ready to give it all for one goal: victory.

Training has been going well in the past few days for the Canadian para-cycling team. The times are dropping on the velodrome, a moral boosting item a few days before the start of the competition. During the final training camp held in Perth, Australia, our riders did not have too much reference, as the track was really slow due to the cold temperature. Now, with the heat and the quality of the Laoshan Velodrome, many of our riders are even beating their personal best times.

Here is the list of our riders who will be competing on the track from September 7th to 10th:

* Brian Cowie (with Devon Smibert)
* Stéphane Côté (with Pierre-Olivier Boily)
* Daniel Chalifour (with Alexendre Cloutier)
* Geneviève Ouellet (with Mathilde Hupin)
* Jean Quévillon
* Braydon McDougall
* Mark Breton
* Eric Bourgeault

The road venue is also a beautiful one. We will be racing on the same course the tri-athletes used during the Olympic Games. The 12 km course offers a challenging climbs, a few hard corners, and beautiful pavement. The table is set for a great event.

For the road events, all the track riders mentioned above will join hand-cyclists Rico Morneau, Mark Beggs and Shauna White in the time trial and road race events on September 12th to 14th.

As for the Village, I'll say it's probably the best I've seen in all four major Games I've been to. It's located just a few blocks away from the now famous Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. The whole Olympic park is actually something to see, both during the day and at night.

We are ready. We know the cycling community, and more, is behind us, and no one would like to let you down. Thanks to many of you already for all the good luck messages.

We will keep you posted as much as possible from Sunday on!

Luc Arseneau, ChPC
Head Coach / Entraîneur Chef

 

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