| Venue: Beijing, China Dates: 4-13 March Time in Beijing: GMT +8 |
The own-up to the Beijing Iciness Paralympics has been turbulent, with first the coronavirus pandemic and in contemporary days Russia’s invasion of Ukraine casting gigantic shadows.
Nonetheless with the Games attributable to formally begin in the Chinese language capital on Friday, the athletes now own their likelihood to preserve to the ice and snow.
The Games – the 13th edition of a Iciness sequence that started in Ornskoldsvik in Sweden in 1976 – will characteristic athletes competing for 78 gold medals.
Friday’s opening ceremony at the Chicken’s Nest Stadium will seemingly be attended by dignitaries along side Chinese language president Xi Jinping, the main medals will seemingly be awarded on Saturday – day one of competition – and the closing ceremony will preserve notify on Sunday, 13 March.
What has took notify up to now?
There has been grand point of interest on the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The IPC committee was once criticised when it at the start talked about on Wednesday it might most likely perhaps perhaps allow the athletes to compete as neutrals.
Nonetheless lower than 24 hours later, the probability was once reversed, with the IPC announcing the “effort in the athlete villages” was once “untenable”.
There had been also fears the Ukraine delegation might perhaps perhaps be unable to streak back and forth.
Nonetheless, the crew of 20 athletes and nine guides arrived in Beijing on Wednesday. Valeriy Sushkevych, the Ukrainian Paralympic chief, talked about the crew’s presence at the Games was once a “image that Ukraine is alive”.
Beforehand there had been grand criticism over the award of both Iciness Games to China attributable to their alleged human rights abuses, in particular round the medication of Uighur Muslims – a minority community which lives mostly in north-west China.
It resulted in many worldwide locations, along side the UK, United States and Canada, declaring a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics.
Nonetheless IPC president Andrew Parsons has insisted China web hosting the 2008 Paralympics has resulted in a determined alternate in the arrangement in which of us with disabilities are perceived in the nation.
China has topped the medal desk at each and every summer season Games since 2004, kindly 207 medals in Tokyo – 83 more than second-placed Mighty Britain.
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Who will seemingly be competing?
The Games will characteristic more than 600 athletes from 46 delegations competing in 78 medal events all over six sports – alpine skiing, execrable-nation skiing, biathlon, Para-ice hockey, snowboard and wheelchair curling.
While the assortment of athletes is an expand on four years up to now, there are fewer medal events – with ladies folks’s snowboard shedding two events attributable to an absence of numbers.
Azerbaijan, Israel and Puerto Rico are put of living to make their Iciness Paralympic debuts, Liechtenstein returns for the main time since 1994, and Estonia and Latvia are abet for the main time since 2002 and 2006 respectively.
Four years up to now in Pyeongchang, the United States topped the medal desk with 36 – along side 13 golds. Russian athletes, competing below the Neutral Paralympic Athlete banner, had been second, with Canada third.
China gained appropriate one gold – in the wheelchair curling – but own the ideal delegation this time with 96 athletes, plus sighted guides.
Many Chinese language athletes own been practising on house soil and own no longer competed internationally in the own-up to the Games, so they’re an unknown quantity.
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Where is the circulation going on?
Beijing is the main city to host both the Summer and Iciness Games, 14 years after it hosted the 2008 summer season Paralympics.
The Games preserve notify all over three clusters.
Beijing itself will host the indoor events – curling and ice hockey – as successfully as the gap and closing ceremonies.
Yanqing, situated 75km (47 miles) out of Beijing, is the house of the alpine skiing events, whereas the mountains of Zhangjiakou, 180km (111 miles) faraway from the capital, host the snowboarding as successfully as biathlon and execrable-nation.
Many of the venues in Beijing own been repurposed from the 2008 Games, along side swimming’s Water Cube, which has been renovated to turn out to be the house of curling, and the Chicken’s Nest stadium, which can host the gap and closing ceremonies.
How will the British crew fare?
The 24-strong GB crew is the ideal at a Iciness Games since Lillehammer in 1994, with athletes competing all sports with the exception of Para-ice hockey.
Four years up to now, British athletes loved their most kindly Iciness Games, kindly seven medals – all from the visually impaired athletes on the ski slopes.
As they did for the Olympics, UK Sport has put of living a range in notify of a explicit quantity for British medals at the Beijing Paralympics – with 5-9 the aim.
Defending champion Menna Fitzpatrick, who grew to turn out to be Britain’s most kindly Iciness Paralympian along with handbook Jen Kehoe in South Korea, is abet but has a novel handbook in Gary Smith – a slack substitute for Katie Guest.
Millie Knight and Brett Wild, who gained two silvers and a bronze at the final Games, will even be chasing success all yet again – and both Fitzpatrick and Knight had been gold medallists at January’s Para Snow Sports World Championships.
In other locations, snowboarder James Barnes-Miller – any other world medallist having taken silver in the snowboard execrable tournament for athletes with higher limb impairments – will seemingly be aiming to glean GB’s first Paralympic medal in the game.
And Hope Gordon will invent history as Britain’s first female Nordic skier when she competes in the execrable-nation events
“This crew promises to be our most competitive all over a grand wider range of sports and events than ever before,” talked about GB chef de mission Phil Smith.
“After what has took notify in the own-up, we’re tantalizing exit and compete and point of interest on the athletes and sports and are taking a be conscious forward to the employ of Beijing to own on the success of the past two Paralympic Iciness Games.”
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Who are the global stars to see?
Given the backdrop in opposition to which they’ll preserve notify, the Games are sure to emotional for Oksana Masters, who was once born in Ukraine but has lived in the United States since she was once seven.
Masters will compete in the biathlon and execrable-nation events having gained two golds, two silvers and a bronze in Pyeongchang before switching at hand-cycling and kindly two gold sooner or later Three hundred and sixty five days’s rescheduled Tokyo Games.
Canadian visually impaired execrable-nation skier Brian McKeever has the likelihood to invent history at what he says will seemingly be his final Paralympics.
McKeever is already the most decorated male execrable-nation Paralympian in history with 17 Games medals, along side 13 golds, and three more wins would glance him transfer stage with dilapidated German alpine skier Gerd Schoenfelder on 16 golds total.
Within the snowboarding, Lisa Bunschoten will seemingly be hoping to raise on the custom of her slack Dutch crew-mate Bibian Mentel-Spee when she lines up in the snowboard execrable and banked slalom events.
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