Snow Falls on Paralympic Mountain Venues

Persistent snow fell throughout the morning and early afternoon as alpine and Nordic skiers raced amid a wintery backdrop in Krasnaya Polyana.

Russian Nordic skier Roman Petushkov attained his fourth gold medal in four events at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games. The dominant 36-year old para-athlete outsprinted Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi and countryman Grigory Murygin over the finishing stretch to win the men’s 1km sprint sitting classification.

The ladies' race was equally thrilling as Paralympics legend Tatyana McFadden narrowly missed her first Nordic skiing gold medal as she was edged by Norwegian Marian Marthinsen by 0.1 seconds in the sitting sprint.

McFadden’s silver was the 11th medal of her Paralympic career, having won 10 Summer Paralympic medals in athletics dating back to the 2004. She has also garnered 10 gold medals at the IPC World Championships in addition to winning four major marathons.

"I really did not expect to win a medal here," McFadden said of her silver medal race. "It’s such a tough field and my only goal was to make it to the final."

The decorated Paralympian is making her Winter Paralympics debut in Sochi.

McFadden, 24, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia with an underdeveloped spinal cord, resulting in paralysis below the waist. After spending the first six years of her life in an orphanage, she was adopted by American Deborah McFadden in 1994.

It has been an emotional few days for McFadden as she was reunited with her Russian birth mother, who watched her compete both Monday and today while sitting alongside her adoptive mother, Deborah.

"They are both here and we’re holding out for me all day in the snow," McFadden said. "They gave me a lot of energy and them being here pushed me forward in all my events."

Slalom skiers diced through gates in snowy conditions at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center. The technical event that was moved up in the schedule so that organizers can attempt to fit in yesterday’s canceled super-G portion of the super combined on Friday afternoon.

Russian Aleksandra Frantceva, along with guide Pavel Zabotin, took the visually impaired slalom while Germans Anna-Lena Forster and Andrea Rothfuss respectively won the sitting and standing events.

French sensation Maria Bochet failed to complete her first run, ending her bid to win five gold medals in five alpine events at the Sochi Games.

Paralympic Sponsors Show Support

Proctor & Gamble’s Janet Fletcher is the marketing leader for the company’s highly successful "Thank You, Mom" campaign for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"There is no separation in my mind between the Olympic and Paralympic campaigns," said Fletcher while attending a U.S. and South Korea sledge hockey match in Sochi.

Fletcher said the campaign relating specifically to the Paralympians is called "Tough Love," depicting that the toughest moms need to have the courage to let their impaired sons and daughters go in order for them to achieve what they are capable of.

The ads, which started airing before the end of the Olympic Games, have accrued more than two million hits on YouTube.

Featured U.S. paralympians include snowboarder Amy Purdy and ice sledge hockey player Taylor Lipsett.

About the sport of ice sledge hockey, Fletcher commented, "What’s interesting to me is after five or ten minutes, you forget that they are even on sleds. It’s just great hockey, and I think something that the world needs to see."

Global insurer Allianz began its cooperation with the International Paralympic Committee in 2006 and became the first "International Partner" of the IPC in 2011. Allianz also partners with the German National Paralympic Committee and numerous others NPC’s worldwide.

"Branding or marketing is not our main focus," said Dr. Werner Zedelius of Allianz SE, while attending the alpine downhill at Rosa Khutor. " We wanted to join forces with an organization which is about people and having the right values."

Zedeluis said that in addition to visiting with numerous Paralympians in Sochi, the dedicated athletes are often invited to meet with Allianz employees at its offices worldwide.

"When you share the experience of their life, the downsides of their life, but more important what they do with their strengths, it’s very telling."

Written by Brian Pinelli in Sochi

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