By Jim Coggins

Lilo Ljubisic carries the Paralympic torch.

Ljubisic, who is blind, was one of the torchbearers at the 2010 Winter Paralympics – the Olympic Games for athletes with disabilities – which were held in Vancouver and Whistler March 12 – 21.

Now retired from competition, she won a gold medal in the 1992 summer Games in Barcelona. She still holds world records in discus and shot put, and is a renowned international inspirational speaker. She is also largely unknown in her home country, and her home city of Coquitlam.

Ljubisic competed on Canada’s 1984 Paralympic silver medal goalball team. She continued until the 2002 IPC Athletic World Champion-ships. She was on the governing board of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) 2001 – 2009, when it was preparing for the 2010 Paralympics.

For the past two decades, the Paralympics have been held in the same city as the Olympic Games. This can lead to a sense of anticlimax, Ljubisic admitted, as local volunteers and fans are feeling exhausted after hosting the Olympics.

This is always the case, she said, but they usually get their second wind – and by the end of the Paralympics “they are flying.”

Volunteers, she added, typically say, “I am so glad I hung on. These are the best games.”

This is partly because the example of Paralympians who have overcome adversity to excel is inspiring.

It is also because the Paralympics are “more family oriented, more relaxed and more intimate,” Ljubisic said. Paralympic athletes are also more accessible than Olympic athletes.

The Paralympics are still the second largest sporting event in the world, after the Olympics.

Continue article >>

Some 1,350 athletes from 40 countries took part in the 2010 Paralympics (compared to about 5,500 athletes from 80 countries at the 2010 Winter Olympics).

There has been “dramatic change” in the Paralympic Games in the last two decades, Ljubisic says, “and I like to think I had something to do with that.”

The first Paralympic-type games were held in Rome in 1960, but the IPC was only formed in 1989. Canada has been “at the forefront” of the movement, she said.

Ljubisic was born in Yugoslavia. A misdiagnosed childhood illness when she was 16 months old led to a gradual loss of her sight over the next 25 years. She immigrated to Canada with her parents and brother when she was eight years old.

As her athletic career was winding down, Ljubisic moved into a new career as an international speaker. Between her volunteer involvements (on numerous boards and committees) and her speaking engagements, she travels 200,000 miles a year, usually on her own.

“I am a keynote speaker. I speak at workshops, lunches and breakfasts. I wrap up conferences and kick off conventions,” Ljubisic said.

The venues include corporate retreats, colleges and universities, public events, sports events, non-profit organizations’ meetings and church events.

Her speeches focus on topics such as living life to its fullest potential, living with the challenge of change, keys to success, the place of marginalized groups in society – all largely based on what she has learned in her own life.

Ljubisic credited her mother’s strong Christian faith for bringing stability to her family. (Her father became a Christian later in life.)

Ljubisic attends New Westminster Seventh Day Adventist Church.

“Faith is the basis of my life, the sustaining power to overcome adversity,” she said. “In the shadowy, cold valleys, we realize we aren’t self-sustaining – and need to lean on God’s love and mercy.”

The consistent message she has heard from God, she said, is that if she leans on him, he will bring her to “clear waters” and peace. “Sometimes our spiritual walk meanders, but we need to keep going back to God – because we’re the ones who chose to walk away.”

Her Christian life is often evident in her public presentations, Ljubisic said. “When I can, I bring something of faith and God into my presentations, gently and subtly.” In our very secular society, “you can’t be too preachy or you won’t be invited back.”

But she drops a ‘pearl’ when she can, and adds another the next time she speaks.

April 2010