Strathcona Nordics club president Len Apedaile leaves next week for a big event in Sochi, Russia – the 2014 Sochi Paralympics.
Apedaile will be there as the Technical Delegate for all Paralympic cross-country ski events, including biathlon. The Technical Delegate supervises the event, the work of the jury, signs off on the official results, and guarantees that the rules are upheld throughout the competition.
Apedaile is no stranger to taking on big roles at big events. At the Vancouver 2010 Games, he was the Sport Manager for both Olympic and Paralympic cross-country ski events; he regularly works the IPC World Cup and World Championship circuit and, in December, was the FIS-appointed Technical Delegate at the Winter Universiade in Italy.
Apedaile lives in Black Creek and began his officiating career doing ski club races at Mount Washington and has worked through the five levels of Officials certification.
“Once you become a certified Level 3 Race Official, you can take it in two directions,” says Apedaile, “You can become a Chief of Competition who is an organizer at a sanctioned event, and you can become a Technical Delegate who guarantees things are run according to the official rules.”
Of the Paralympics, Apedaile finds the games exciting and interesting. He points out that the competitors are elite athletes and racing on courses of the same level of difficulty as the Olympics, despite their physical impairments.
In preparation for the Paralympics, Apedaile has been to Sochi five times in the past four years and has been working closely with the organizers. He says he is confident in the Russian organizers and their ability to put on an inspiring, exciting Paralympic Games and adds, “providing the weather cools down a bit in Sochi!”
You can learn more about the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games on the website: Sochi2014.com/en/Paralympic.
– Strathcona Nordic Ski Club