A Summer Paralympic athlete knows exactly what Canada’s best are feeling as Sochi Paralympics get underway

SOCHI, Russia - As I walked into my first Paralympic venue of these 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympic Games my stomach immediately turned into knots. Suddenly, I felt like I was standing on the blocks getting ready for my first Paralympic swim.

Inside the “Ice Cube” where Wheelchair Curling will be taking place, I felt a good vibe even though we are still a day away from the start of the games, and more importantly I have been retired as a Paralympic (summer) athlete for four years. But there is something very familiar about the energy in the air that has an automatic effect on me.

It feels like walking into a different world where absolutely everything is secondary to protecting your performance. This time, however, I am not here to perform, at least not as an athlete. But once you have experienced the games as an athlete, there is an intimate connection with the Paralympic venues that can never be erased. As an athlete, you will either experience the venue as a backdrop to all of your dreams coming true, or it can be the stage for your worst nightmare.

There is very little an athlete can do to physically to improve their performance once they arrive at the Games. Apart from getting the right amount of sleep, the proper fuel for their body, and some maintenance training, everything else from this point on is a head game. Everything they can possibly do physically to prepare for a performance of a lifetime is done. The only goal for a Paralympian once they have arrived is to get their head in the game. To create the right mental space to allow their body to do what is has already been programed to do.

The most terrifying feeling for an athlete is not feeling unprepared, but rather, knowing that they are in fact prepared but they won’t be able to pull it out when it truly counts. The pressure can feel overwhelming and all consuming. There is external pressure to win medals, but by far the biggest source of pressure is the expectation athletes put upon themselves. Each day in training Paralympians demonstrate the qualities of the most elite athletes in the world – determination, drive, passion, relentless willpower to push past perceived limits. And when an athlete finally makes it to the Paralympic Games and wears that Maple Leaf for the first time, I can tell you that the pride is immense, but there the pressure is there to match.

Will they be able to put all of the work they have done over the past few years into one single moment when the entire world will be watching?

The amount of thoughts, doubts, and insecurities that try to creep into the mind of a Paralympian can feel insurmountable. The athletes who come out on top will not necessarily be the fittest, strongest, or fastest. The athletes to stand on top of the podium will be the athlete who has the ability to stand tall with the perfect balance of confidence and humility, deciding that it is better to put it all on the line and fall short, than to have never tried at all.

The next 10 days will be the true test for the world's greatest Paralympic winter athletes.

The Canadian team walked out Friday night behind flag bearer Sonja Gaudet into the stadium at the Opening Ceremony. As I sat in the stands of 40,000 cheering people, the hair on my arms stood up. I can still remember clearly the first time I walked out into my first Opening Ceremony at the 2000 Summer Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Tears came to my eyes as I recalled that moment and knew the pride and determination that filled each Canadian athlete as they realized the entire world was rooting for them to succeed.

Stephanie Dixon is a 19-time Paralympic medalist, a seven-time Paralympic champion, and current world record holder in swimming. She competed in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Paralympic Games. She will be writing for Eh Game during the Sochi Paralympics.