By the numbers: Sochi Paralympics

From March 7 to 16, athletes from around the world will compete at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The event boasts the greatest number of athletes ever competing in a Winter Paralympic Games and more than 200 medals waiting to be won.

Here’s a look at the numbers:

25,000: Number of volunteers scheduled to help out during the Games.

1976: The first year that Paralympic Games were held.

1,500: Number of torchbearers who will have taken part in the Paralympic torch relay through 46 Russian regions.

585: Number of athletes competing in the Games, the most of any previous Winter Paralympics. (The previous record was 571 athletes set in 1998 at the Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan).

550: Number of journalists and members of the media expected to attend.

72: Number of medal events.

63: Age of curling skip Jim Armstrong, the oldest member of Team Canada.

56: Number of medals Russia won at the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships, making it the favourite to win the most nordic events at the Games on home turf.

44: Number of countries represented.

19: Number of medals Canada won in the last Paralympic Games, in Vancouver in 2010.

16: The age of alpine skier Mac Marcoux, the youngest member on Team Canada.

10: Number of Canada's 2010 medals that were gold.

9: Days of competition during the Games. 

5: Number of sports in competition (alpine skiing, including snowboarding; wheelchair curling, cross-country skiing, biathlon, sledge hockey).