Rick Hansen, Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist

Rick Hansen is by every measure a remarkable international athlete. In the 1980s Rick won 19 international wheelchair marathons and competed in two Paralympic Summer Games, winning two gold medals, two silver and one bronze. He also competed in the 1980 Olympic Summer Games in track as an exhibition sport. In 1987 Rick embarked on his Man in Motion Tour, wheeling around the world to raise awareness of spinal cord injuries, raise funds ($26 million) for spinal cord research, and challenge the dominant stereotypes faced by people with physical disabilities. Rick now lives in Richmond, B.C. with his wife and three teenage daughters.

Rick, you were born and raised in rural British Columbia before moving to Vancouver for university. Does Vancouver feel like home?
Having been living here since 1976, I truly feel like this place is home. It's one of the greatest places on earth. I've had the chance to travel the world, and every time I come back to Vancouver I get the most incredible feeling, that sense of home, of pride. It's a small town that's grown up, and I'm fortunate to have grown up with the city.

What's your favourite part of Vancouver?
Stanley Park has always been a very special place for me. When I was doing a lot of training for marathons, I had a route around Stanley Park, either on the seawall or on the road. Every time I went there, there was some new part of the park I didn't know about. It's a great place to see and to explore and to experience.

How about shopping?
If you want to shop, Robson Street is an obvious choice. I have many credit card scars from my daughters' trips down there! Granville Island is another wonderful place to go. You have the art and the culture, the restaurants and the shops. The market itself is a neat place to go to cruise through and buy something to eat or to take home and eat later.

Is there a local charity run or roll you recommend visitors get involved in?
One of the unique parts of Vancouver is that we have a lot of commitment to the community and it's expressed in our culture through significant participation events. For me, I absolutely never miss the Terry Fox Run (held in September). Terry was a good buddy of mine and we played wheelchair basketball together. We covered a lot of Vancouver together training and I followed his journey as he tried to run across the country to raise money for cancer research.

What do you hope visitors to the 2010 Games experience during their stay in Vancouver?
Other than experiencing the beauty of our city and our province, more importantly I hope that they experience the unique depth and hospitality and nature of our culture. We are moving towards some really important ideals and values including an accessible and inclusive society. We will hopefully see that by the way the Games are presented - that we don't have two events and two separate games, but that the Olympic and Paralympic Games are one games and connected.

What will you be doing during the Games?
I'm looking forward to watching some of my favourite events. Obviously everyone wants to go to hockey. (Did you get tickets?) No! I'm hoping some benevolent friend will take pity on me. And for sure I want to see sledge hockey which is going to be out at UBC, the old alma mater. It's one of the most exciting Paralympic sports we have. As a Canadian I'm very supportive and interested in the Games so anytime I can make a contribution I'd be happy to do so.