Although competition will be fierce during the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, which begin on Saturday, November 12 with the opening ceremony at the Telmex Athletics Stadium, results are not the overriding concern for some athletes and team chiefs.

Canada’s chef de mission Rob Needham said while it would be a bonus to improve on the haul of 112 medals won in Rio de Janeiro in 2007, that’s not the aim of Guadalajara 2011.  Getting experience for upcoming competitions is.

“We’ll set performance goals at the Paralympics in London 2012,” Needham said this week, as the 121-strong Canadian delegation settled into their living quarters at the Pan American Village.

Team Canada includes a mix of veteran athletes and teams with previous Paralympic experience and medals, along with some younger athletes competing in their first international multi-sport games.

Team USA consists of 176 athletes, including 59 Paralympians and features some of the top Paralympic athletes in the world, including many medalists from the 2008 Beijing Games.

“I’m confident this group will make us proud,” said Charlie Huebner, chief of Paralympics at the U.S Olympic Committee, after the Stars and Stripes  was raised at the athletes’ village Wednesday.

The host nation is confident of bettering its total of 37 gold medals in Rio four years ago.  All 16 of Mexico’s medallists in the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be participating in Guadalajara.  The delegation of 210 is the second largest of the games after Brazil (221 competitors), whose athletes topped the medal table in their home country four years ago.  The state of Jalisco will be well represented with 39 athletes.

With wider television coverage than ever before – at least domestically – Guadalajara’s Parapans could be a major catalyst for helping change perceptions on people with disabilities in Mexico and open many eyes to what they are capable of achieving.  The games should also help Mexican athletes with disabilities, who regularly bemoan the lack of support they receive in comparison to their Olympic counterparts.

Talking to the Reporter this week, Needham acknowledged that Canada is the regional leader in the development of organized sport for athletes with disabilities. “The Vancouver Winter Games were a major factor in moving us forward,” he said, adding that generous federal government and private sector backing is giving Canadian athletes an even greater chance of fulfilling their dreams.