Ute dancers, elementary school students and the national anthem greeted members of the U.S. Paralympic team during their official welcome to the Olympic Village at the University of Utah Wednesday.
The team has actually been at the village since the beginning of the week, but the day before the 2002 Paralympic opening ceremonies, village mayor Spence Eccles made the welcome official.
"Without you the Games wouldn't take place," Eccles said. "The Olympics was just a preliminary. The Paralympics are the main event."
The village received rave reviews from U.S. Paralympians and officials Wednesday for its accessibility.
"The village is awesome — the staff, the support, the actual accommodations — it's very accessible for us," said Lonnie Hannah, a sledge hockey player. "We are being treated as athletes and not as disabled people."
The Paralympic village has all the benefits of the Olympic version, including banking, Internet access, laundry, televisions, food and church services. The one difference is size. The dorm areas have been scaled back because only about 900 athletes and officials are in town for the 2002 Winter Paralympics while 3,500 were around for Salt Lake's 2002 Winter Games.
The atmosphere is becoming more friendly as the days progress and by the end of the Paralympics, Pam Danberg, chef de mission for the U.S. Paralympic team, predicts pin trading will be ongoing throughout the village.
"Early on the athletes are trying to train," she said. "Later on they start to mix more."
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