They will participate in the 2008 Paralympic Games Torch Relay on September 5 or 6 in Beijing along with six other Canadians.
The Canadians have been invited to participate in the torch relay by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), which is covering travel, accommodation and meals for the torchbearers.
“We are extremely proud to have these four individuals representing Canada and the CPC in the Beijing Paralympic torch relay,” said CPC President Carla Qualtrough. “Our selection committee chose to honour unsung heroes of Canada’s Paralympic Movement. These four individuals are representative of the thousands of Canadians who are the ‘team behind the team’ supporting Canada’s Paralympic athletes.”
Eriksson represents the coach, Nolan the family supporter and Blyth the community supporter. As announced when the CPC put out its call for nominations, Sullivan was chosen for his work as a builder and leader in helping to make the perception of disability disappear and replacing it with equity.
Eriksson is the coach of Paralympic multi-medallists such as Chantal Petitclerc and Jeffrey Adams as well as up-and-coming athletes. He has been to every Paralympic Summer Games as a coach since 1984, and the athletes he has trained have won 103 medals over that time. He is the author of several books on wheelchair racing and athletes with a physical disability.
Nolan is a public school teacher who has tirelessly supported his wife Victoria, who will be representing Canada in rowing in Beijing. He drives his wife to every practice, training camp and regatta as well as to appointments with massagers, doctors and personal trainers. He has also created a fan website for the rowing team and publicizes the team’s races and individual rowing accomplishments. He teaches all of his classes about people with disabilities and the Paralympic Movement.
Blyth is the volunteer president of the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program, high performance director for the Disabled Skiers Association of BC, and program coordinator for BC Wheelchair Sports. She has moved the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program from a group of about 35 volunteers delivering 50 lessons annually to a registered non-profit organization with 120 volunteers and nine paid staff who run more than 1,000 lessons a year.
Eriksson is from Ottawa, ON; Blyth from Vancouver, BC; and Nolan from Toronto, ON.
The CPC’s Torch Bearer Selection Committee consisted of CPC President Qualtrough, CPC Vice-President and Finance Director David Legg and CPC Chief Operating Officer Brian MacPherson.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler has already announced the two torch bearers who will represent it – Para-Alpine skier Brad Lennea and Whistler volunteer Sarah Tipler. The City of Vancouver will be releasing the names of the four torch bearers it has chosen later this week.
The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Summer Games run September 6-17 in China.
