The 2010 Paralympic Games opened Saturday (KST) in Vancouver for a ten-day run.

Some one-thousand-350 athletes from 45 nations will compete in five different events including alpine skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling.

Earlier on Friday, the competition’s torch made its way into downtown Vancouver. International Paralympic Committee member Chang Hyang-sook from South Korea was among the officials who were present at Friday’s event.

South Korea, represented by 49 athletes and officials, will compete for medals in alpine skiing and the biathlon.