Full transcript: Off-piste at the Paras #2: Opening ceremony - 9 March 2018
This is a full transcript of the 9 March 2018 Off-piste at the Paras #2: Opening ceremony presented by Beth Rose with Lily Freeston and Chris Osborne.
MUSIC - Off Piste at the Paras, from the Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang. With Beth Rose.
GUEST - [Korean introduction]
BETH - And now can you say it in English?
GUEST - This is BBC Ouch from Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
MUSIC - Off Piste at the Paras, from the Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang. With Beth Rose.
BETH - It is cold in Pyeongchang tonight so we're going to keep this short and sweet. It's minus 5 degrees and we've just come outside of the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games 2018 in Pyeongchang. Loads of people are flooding out behind us, all in high spirits.
And just to remind you, you're listening to Off Piste at the Paras with me Beth Rose. And tonight around the microphone in the centre of the tarmac is Chris from BBC Sport.
CHRIS - Hi.
BETH - And Lily from BBC Ouch.
LILY - Hi.
BETH - What were your favourite bits?
CHRIS - The bit at the end where we went into the press room and it was a bit warmer. [Laughter] Also I liked the skateboarding bear, that was definitely a highlight. And I very much liked the little girl who got taken up in a big wheel into the sky. And then there was lots of K-pop music going on and lots of dancing, and that was a definite highlight.
BETH - The K-pop I have been waiting for since we arrived. And they held it right until the very last minute. It has been freezing. I know us Brits like to talk about the weather, but we bought a few drinks this evening and through the course of the evening ice started to form on them. That is how cold it is.
LILY - It is freezing. My drink slowly formed ice cubes over the course of the evening, making it harder and harder to drink. But yes, hand warmers have come to the rescue.
BETH - In fact we got given hand warmers, didn't we?
LILY - Yeah.
BETH - One of the ironic coups of the Olympics and Paralympics is the fact that they build this stadium with plans to build a roof, and then it got a bit too costly, so they gave up on the roof and instead they've had to buy every single spectator a pack which includes hand warmers, a really nice hat, like a top quality hat, a blanket, and a cushion with heat warmers.
CHRIS - Yeah, I haven't got to rummage in mine yet because I've been actually working, typing during the ceremony. But yeah, I see you guys have been wearing some of the stuff and the blanket and the hand warmer. Thanks for that on the way out because my typing hand was freezing cold as well.
I don't know how cold the athletes were out there, because they had to sit down, and I saw our man Owen Pick with his flag was waving that without gloves, and I imagine gripping a flagpole whilst waving in those conditions would have been absolutely excruciating.
BETH - It was quite a slow process. They marched out team by team in the Korean alphabet order. So, the UK was about 20th in, maybe a bit more. Not a full set because a lot of them compete tomorrow. So, it's the skiers and the curlers, they are on first.
CHRIS - Yeah, there was barely anyone there actually, just the three snowboarders and Kelly Gallagher and her guide Gary Smith were the only athletes for GB there. Because we've got all the skiers in action tomorrow, apart from Kelly because she's not doing downhill, all of the wheelchair curlers, and of course Scott Meenagh as well in the Nordic skiing, so none of them were there. It looked quite big because there were a few officials and stuff, but actually only five British athletes were actually out there tonight.
BETH - I think the biggest team, I think from where I was sat, was Canada, who were huge. And we met a whole load of them on the way in, including - this is quite good, if you don't fancy supporting the Brits for whatever reason, there is a Canadian going, the youngest Canadian skier, we bumped into her mum who was very proud obviously. Chris spoke to her earlier. But they were also born in - where were they born? Manchester?
CHRIS - Lancashire somewhere.
BETH - Lancashire.
[Music]
RACHAEL - I'm Rachael Chubb-Higgins and I am Mel Pemble's mum. She's the youngest on the Canadian national para alpine ski team, and she's doing the downhill tomorrow.
CHRIS - Okay, so you're initially from England?
RACHAEL - Lancashire, yes. Lytham St Anne's-on-Sea. Yoo-hoo!
CHRIS - Okay, not far. I'm from Manchester.
RACHAEL - I was born in Worsley just outside of Manchester. Mel has cerebral palsy; she was born not breathing. We emigrated to Canada in 2011 and she learned to ski and that became her physiotherapy. And then she got picked up by the national team here, and that's why we're here.
CHRIS - So, has she been to a Paralympic Games before?
RACHAEL - No, this is her first one.
CHRIS - As her mum how are you feeling in the build-up?
RACHAEL - Oh super, super stoked. There's a little Lancashire lass here and here she is in the world stage. It's her dream since she was 11 years old, and it's been six years in the making and I can't believe I'm here. I'm so proud.
CHRIS - Will she be walking out tonight? Because I know they've got the downhill tomorrow.
RACHAEL - She can't come out tonight, no. She'll be at the closing ceremony. Because they've got the downhill they're up at four. She's a bit upset about that but she did want to do the downhill.
CHRIS - Are you excited for this ceremony?
RACHAEL - Yeah, amazing ceremony.
CHRIS - Do you know what to expect?
RACHAEL - No idea what to expect at all, no idea. Just crazy, crazy, wonderful fun. Bigger than anything I've ever seen, I'm sure.
CHRIS - How much support has your daughter got here, because there's half a dozen of you here?
RACHAEL - We've all got sons and daughters here racing and she's, Mel's pretty much the rookie on the team and we're kind of learning how to be Paralympic parents. But these guys are awesome. They've all got athletes.
CHRIS - And finally can you describe your hat and tell me a bit about it?
RACHAEL - My hat is a very famous wool hat from Sun Peaks. Mel learned to race at Mount Washington. This has been from Sun Peaks to Panorama and all over Canada. So, anybody that spots me in the crowd from Canada will know it's me.
CHRIS - You'll have to tell people what it looks like though.
RACHAEL - It's a big wolf on my head and it's got big paws around my neck. It's keeping me warm.
CHRIS - It's [05:51?] you won't be able to miss it. Thank you so much.
RACHAEL - Thank you.
BETH - So, that's an alternative person to support if you want. But actually it's been quite interesting here because Pyeongchang is a region rather than a city, so it's a bit trickier to get to, but lots and lots of people have made the effort to come here. Lots of disabled people as well, so many people in wheelchairs, using crutches, in big groups, friendship groups.
[Music]
JUEN - My name is Juen.
CHRIS - Why have you come here today Juen?
JUEN - To see the Paralympic opening ceremony.
CHRIS - Who are you here with today?
JUEN - I'm with a group, not on our family but on a new players group something.
CHRIS - Do you know what to expect when the ceremony starts?
JUEN - I don't know, but I saw on the news very famous people are coming.
CHRIS - Can you tell me whether you and how much you were looking forward to seeing disabled athletes competing in your country?
JUEN - Yeah, I was excited. But I only knew that the Olympics are here in 2015 or 2016 so I was very excited after I knew. And at that time I didn't know that I will come here. I saw it.
CHRIS - Where are you from?
JUEN - I'm from Sujeong but it's very long from here.
CHRIS - Okay, so you've had a long journey today?
JUEN - Yes.
CHRIS - And do you play sports or do you think you might play sports?
JUEN - I play table tennis.
CHRIS - Wow. Are you good?
JUEN - I don't know.
CHRIS - Can you beat your dad?
JUEN - I've never tried it.
CHRIS - I'm sure you could! Finally, are you going to watch any sports as well while you're here?
JUEN - Yeah.
CHRIS - Okay. What do you think will be your favourite one?
JUEN - I think curling because I saw curling.
CHRIS - Do you think you might give wheelchair curling a go yourself?
JUEN - I don't know, but I think I won't have the chance to try it.
CHRIS - Well, you shouldn't think like that. I'm sure you can find some way. If someone gave you the chance to try it would you try it?
JUEN - Yeah.
CHRIS - Definitely, that's great. Thank you so much Juen. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much. Gamsahamnida!
[Music]
BETH - I think it's been quite a success in terms of accessibility. They did a pretty good job at being all-inclusive, certainly all the songs had a signer. But when it came to the speeches from all the officials, including the President, which was a little less successful, especially for us when our Korean is terrible. But it was great to see everyone.
So, it's pretty busy here tonight. And a lot of the athletes they left before the end, before the K-pop stars came out, and they're going to get an early night tonight. And we are also going to get inside.
LILY - Yeah, time to get inside. It's absolutely freezing. Chris is violently shaking over there.
CHRIS - Yeah, that's just because I think we might treat ourselves to a small drink. So, that's why I'm shaking: in anticipation.
BETH - We should also mention the last-minute change of plan in terms of the flame bearers - is that what they're called?
CHRIS - Yeah. It's actually a bit of a I guess slight news line because we know that the North and South Koreans weren't going to walk under a united flag, as they did in the Olympics, and that is what happened, despite talks going on until tomorrow to try and sort that out.
But a surprise that I don't think was billed was the Paralympic flame was brought into the stadium being held jointly by a North Korean athlete and a South Korean athlete, which got quite a big cheer in the stadium. It was quite a nice moment. And then that flame got passed on to a series of other people, and actually got taken up a ski slope by a man abseiling who had a one-leg amputation as well, who took it all the way up to the cauldron. So, that was a really nice moment.
BETH - Well, that's it for this evening. And my favourite tag line at the moment, which I can't use anymore beyond now, is: let the Games begin.
MUSICThis has been a Winter Paralympics broadcast brought to you by BBC Ouch from Pyeongchang in South Korea. You can email the team ouch@bbc.co.uk or tweet @bbcouch.
