The winter paralympics: setting new standards for excellence.

This February, the gates of Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium will open as an Olympic torch-bearing runner is welcomed inside, officially beginning the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Over the next few weeks, TV networks and sports pages will surge with news from Salt Lake City, and audiences will struggle to make out the faces and country I.D.s as athletes in snowsuits and huge goggles make their way down slopes and luge canals.

At this writing, we don't know the winners of the 2002 Winter Olympics. But other winners are not competing in February at all. These are the hardworking and very competitive athletes of the 2002 Paralympics, or "parallel Olympics," which takes place from March 7 to 16. More than a thousand people with disabilities, from 35 countries, will be cheered on by an expected sell-out crowd of 45,000.

It's a long way from the first Paralympics in 1960, when fewer than 400 athletes competed. They were not even housed in an Olympic stadium. This year's event is planned by the Salt Lake Olympic Committee, uses the same facilities, and aspires to the same level of excellence. "We've gone from disabled sport as a sideshow to being recognized all over the world," says Paul di Bello, competition director for the National Sports Center for the Disabled, himself a Paralympic medalist in alpine skiing. "As a disabled athlete, it's been very rewarding to see." In Salt Lake City, you'll see 26 separate events, in four disciplines:

Alpine skiing. In the slalom, giant slalom, and super-G downhill, each event is further broken down by type of disability--including events for skiers who are blind as well as for those with a range of mobility impairments. Some will ski standing, usually with the help of outriggers or "ski bras" (see sidebar on page 22). The super-fast sit-skiers will make it downhill in record time on a specially molded seat atop either one (mono-) or two (bi-) skis. Top alpine skiers approach the speeds of non-disabled skiers, if not yet those in Olympic competition!

Cross-country skiing. Cross-country and relay ski events are also broken down by disability. Standing skiers will be competing in both classical style (standard) and freestyle (one leg back, skating-style). "There's disagreement on which is easier," says Jon Kreamelmeyer, the coach for this year's team. "Some say one ski is easier, others like the balance of two."

Ice sledge hockey. Fast, furious, fractious--all still apply when the teams are on sleds, using specially built sticks that can both propel the player and be used to shoot the puck across the ice. There's a hockey tournament going on every day of the Paralympics.

Biathlon. A combination of ski racing and marksmanship. Visually impaired skiers will be using special acoustic rifles that shoot a beam of light and sound, with the result recorded acoustically. Everyone else uses harmless pellet rifles.

The winter event is growing slowly, and it's small compared with the Summer Paralympics, which has 18 medal events from archery to volleyball and had, in Sydney in 2000, a turnout of 100,000 fans. As the winter event grows, new sports are being added: the 2006 Paralympics, in Torino, Italy, will also feature ice racing and wheelchair ice dancing, and may include wheelchair curling.

MS athletes haven't shown up for Winter Paralympics--yet

The Summer Paralympics have boasted their share of athletes with MS. For example, Laura Schwanger, who has competed in the shot put, javelin, and discus competitions in three Paralympic Games: 1988 in Seoul, Korea; 1992 in Barcelona, Spain; and 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. She won four gold medals, six silvers, and one bronze. Anne Dun ham, a British equestrian who was diagnosed with MS more than 20 years ago, won both the Individual Gold and Team Silver medals at the 1994 World Championships before taking her horse and her heart to gold-medal victory in Atlanta.

These athletes competed, and won, despite the famous MS heat-sensitivity. Competition in cold, one might think, should be easier--and thus one might expect to find more, not fewer, Paralympic athletes with MS in the winter events. Among the winter torch-bearers taking the flame to Utah are Zoe Koplowitz, 14-time last-place "winner" in the New York City marathon; Kelly Walker Haley, a top fund-raiser and volunteer at the Colorado Chapter; and Pam Hensley, who has completed ten MS 150 bike events, despite her MS. But this writer was unable to find anyone from the United States with MS among past or present Winter Paralympians.

Why? Di Bello, of the National Sports Center, said simply: "The inconsistency of the disease makes it hard to train." Echoing him is former Olympic skier Jimmie Heuga, who's spearheaded sports for people with MS for nearly 20 years. He never tried out for the Paralympics because "my situation changes throughout the day. Balance, vision ... it'll change over the course of 15 minutes sometimes." The rapid shift from cold to heat that occurs during winter training is also hard on people with MS.

Will this change as rehab systems evolve? Dr. Patricia Coyle, professor of neurology and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Comprehensive Care Center at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, says: "There's no reason why a person with MS cannot train at that level. I think if someone were to decide to try, they could even get funding to support them."

This winter, the Paralympians inspire the rest of us to do our own personal best, even if we're not trying to break any records.

For tickets and other information on the 2002 Paralympics, visit <www.saltlake2002.com> and click on "Paralympics". Or call: 800-TICKETS.

Get Out and Play In The Snow

Winter is no time to stop your exercise program: new adaptive equipment is frequently being unveiled and new leagues and programs are offering the chance for people at all levels of skill to get involved.

Skiing. Most adaptive skiers use outriggers--forearm. crutches mounted in skis. You can use them with two regular skis, with one full ski, or with sit-skis, which have a molded seat called a "bucket." For added stability, the oddly named "ski bra" can connect the two tips. There are also walkers on skis for people with poor balance.

Ski for Light: <www.sfl.org>; Tel: [phone].

Jimmie Heuga Center: <www. heuga.org>; Tel: [phone].

National Sports Center for the Disabled: <www.nscd.org>; Tel: [phone].

National Ability Center: <www. nationalabilitycenter.org>; Tel: [phone].

Skating. "The sense of adventure on the ice ... there's nothing like it," says Elizabeth O'Donnell, founder and director of SABAH International, a 25-year-old program for skaters with disabilities. They use props--like sliding walkers for people with balance problems. O'Donnell says that some people with balance and mobility impairments find that skating helps them. "We had one woman with MS who walked much better after she learned to skate."

SABAH: <www.sabahinc.org>; Tel: [phone].

Sled Hockey. Three years ago, there were only seven sled hockey teams in the United States: now there are at least 25. Often, teams will involve family members and friends with no disabilities. As Craig Gray, a former Paralympic skier and rehabilitation consultant, says: "Ice is the great leveler!"

U.S. Sled Hockey Association: <www.sledhockey.org>.

Desert Ice: Tel: [phone].

Rink Link, a project of Alpha One: <www.alpha-one.org>; Tel: [phone].

Snowshoeing. Today's snowshoes, as the folks at Maine Handicapped Skiing happily point out, are far smaller and lighter than the behemoths of yesteryear. While snowshoeing requires independent leg motion, it is easier for folks with balance difficulties, or who want a slower pace to enjoy the peaceful snow.

Even if we're not up to team sports, almost all of us can enjoy ice fishing, snowmobiling, and even snowball fights. So plan to get out in the snow and play!