Opening Ceremony - Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games

The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games began with a stunning Opening Ceremony on Friday evening (7 March) at Fisht Stadium with a volunteer cast of more than 2,500 people from the Krasnodar region of Russia taking centre stage, and two-time Paralympic champion swimmer Olesya Vladykina and six-time Paralympic champion cross-country skier Sergey Shilov lighting the Paralympic cauldron. With a theme of “Breaking The Ice,“ the Opening Ceremony evoked the spirit of Russia and the importance of breaking down barriers and stereotypes faced by people around the world every day. During his Opening Ceremony speech, IPC President Sir Philip Craven said: “Thirty-four years ago when the old Soviet Union declined the opportunity to stage the 1980 Paralympic Games in Moscow, the prospect of Russia staging its first Paralympic Games was nothing but a dream. “But dreams do come true, and since winning the Games seven years ago, this part of Russia has undergone a monumental transformation. However, the big