Fort Kent to host Paralympic games Biathlon site picked for disabled athlete skiing event March 9-21, 2005

FORT KENT – Just months after hosting the 2004 Biathlon World Cup, the Maine Winter Sports Center has been designated as the site for another global event early next year.

The International Paralympic Committee chose the center’s 10th Mountain Ski Club in Fort Kent to serve as host for the 2005 International Paralympic Committee Nordic World Championships.

The event, March 9-21, 2005, will bring together some 125 of the world’s top disabled athletes to compete in cross-country skiing and biathlon events.

The International Paralympic Committee – a nonprofit promoting elite sports for athletes with disabilities – also organizes and coordinates the Paralympic Games, which are held at the same time and place as the Olympic Games.

The organization also oversees events such as the International Paralympic Committee Nordic World Championships for athletes with disabilities.

The Maine Winter Sports Center was among two organizations vying to host the championships.

“Being awarded this event by the International Paralympic Committee is another vote of confidence from the international Nordic skiing world,” said Nancy Thibodeau, head of the organizing committee for the event.

Andy Shepard, president of the Maine Winter Sports Center, pointed out that the Fort Kent facility also will be the site of the 2006 World Biathlon Junior Championships.

Thibodeau said people who were involved with the World Cup in March saw it as a powerful experience, and organizers anticipate nothing less from the Paralympic World Championships.

Because the Paralympic athletes are such “incredibly positive examples of the human spirit,” it should be equally powerful for northern Maine just to be a part of the championships, Thibodeau said.

Six competitions will take place over the course of a full week and two weekends at the 10th Mountain Center, which is considered one of the top Nordic skiing facilities in the world.

The center – owned by the Maine Winter Sports Center and operated by the volunteer 10th Mountain Ski Club – boasts a day lodge with locker rooms, sauna and kitchen, a 26-room wax building and lighted trails.

Organizers believe the 2005 event will have a hefty economic impact on the community, although attendance is not expected to be as large as for the Biathlon World Cup.

Paralympic athletes and staff members will be lodging in the area for a longer period, and officials believe the event will bring in different crowds.

Organizers expect to work with many local schools and volunteers again to educate people about, as well as promote, the sport.

Information about schedules, accommodations and volunteer registration for the Paralympic World Championships will be posted this summer on the Maine Winter Sports Center’s site at www.mainewsc.org.