2022 Winter Paralympics

The 2022 Winter Paralympics (Chinese: 2022年冬季残疾人奥林匹克运动会; pinyin: 2022 Nián Dōngjì Cánjí Rén Àolínpǐkè Yùndònghuì), also known as XIII Paralympic Winter Games, commonly known as Beijing 2022 (Chinese: 北京2022), were an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 13 March 2022.^[2] This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

XIII Paralympic Winter Games

Location	Beijing, China
Motto	Together for a Shared Future (Chinese: 一起向未来)
Nations	46[1]
Athletes	564[1]
Events	78 in 6 sports
Opening	4 March 2022
Closing	13 March 2022
Opened by	Xi Jinping President of China[a]
Closed by	Andrew Parsons President of the International Paralympic Committee
Cauldron	Li Duan
Stadium	Beijing National Stadium
Winter ← Pyeongchang 2018 Milano Cortina 2026 → Summer ← Tokyo 2020 Paris 2024 → 2022 Winter Olympics

One of the four cauldrons used during the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics

Beijing was selected as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2015 at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; taking into account its hosting of the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Beijing is the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics as well as the Summer and Winter Paralympics. This was the overall second Paralympics in China. It was the last of three consecutive Paralympics hosted in East Asia.

These Games featured 564 athletes representing 46 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), competing in 78 medal events across six sports.

Participation in the Games was impacted by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine; the International Olympic Committee (IOC) condemned Russia for violating the Olympic Truce, and the IPC ultimately banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.

While the IPC initially announced that the countries' athletes would be allowed to compete independently under the Paralympic flag, it backtracked on 3 March 2022 – the eve of the opening ceremonies – following threats of a boycott by multiple NPCs, and announced that Belarusian and Russian athletes would be prohibited from competing. The Belarusian and Russian delegations competed at a replacement event from 17 to 21 March in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.^[3][4] Armenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan also competed at the replacement event.^[3][5]

Host nation China finished at the top of the medal table, winning a total of 61 medals, of which 18 were gold, setting a new record as the most successful Asian country at a single Winter Paralympics with the most total medals, gold, silver, and bronze. Ukraine also made their best historical performance and finished in second place with 29 medals, of which 11 were gold, and Canada retained the third place achieved in 2010, 2014 and 2018 with a total of 25 medals, of which eight were gold again.

Host selection

Main article: Bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics

As part of a formal agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee first established in 2001,^[6] the winner of the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics was also to host the 2022 Winter Paralympics.^[7]

Beijing was selected as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics after beating Almaty by four votes on 31 July 2015 at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[7]

2022 Winter Olympics bidding results

City	Nation	Votes
Beijing	China	44
Almaty	Kazakhstan	40

Opening ceremony

Main article: 2022 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on 4 March 2022 at the Beijing National Stadium; it was directed by Zhang Yimou, with the theme "Blossoming of Life".^[8][9]

During his opening remarks, IPC president Andrew Parsons condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the circumvention of the Olympic Truce by Russia, emphasising that Paralympic athletes compete with, and not "against", each other, and that "the 21st century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hate".^[9] The final torchbearer was four-time Chinese para-athletics gold medalist Li Duan, who mounted the torch at the centre of a large snowflake sculpture.^[9]

Closing ceremony

Main article: 2022 Winter Paralympics closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held on 13 March 2022.^[10] The ceremony closed after nine days of competition and 78 events at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China.^[11]

Sports

Seventy-eight events in five sports were held during the 2022 Winter Paralympics, two lower than 2018.^[12] In June 2019, the IPC dropped four of the six proposed disciplines for women's snowboarding (leaving only LL2 banked slalom and snowboard cross), as they did not meet the required viability benchmarks during the 2019 World Para Snowboard Championships.^[13]

• Alpine skiing (30) (details)
• Nordic skiing
  • Biathlon (18) (details)
  • Cross-country skiing (20) (details)
• Para ice hockey (1) (details)
• Snowboarding (8) (details)
• Wheelchair curling (1) (details)

Venues

Paralympic clusters

Beijing cluster

Olympic Green venues

• Beijing National Aquatics Center – curling
• Beijing National Indoor Stadium – para ice hockey
• Beijing National Stadium – opening and closing ceremonies
• Beijing Paralympic Village
• China National Convention Center – MPC/IBC

Yanqing District cluster

• Xiaohaituo Alpine Skiing Field – alpine skiing
• Yanqing MMC: Media Center
• Yanqing Paralympic Village and Medal Plaza

Zhangjiakou cluster

• Kuyangshu Biathlon Field – cross-country skiing and biathlon
• Genting Resort – Snowboarding
• Zhangjiakou Paralympic Village and Medal Plaza

Torch relay

Main article: 2022 Winter Paralympics torch relay

The heritage flame for the 2022 Winter Paralympics was lit in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom on 1 March and was sent virtually to Beijing, when another eight flames were lit and collected around the city and Zhangjiakou merged in a small ceremony in front of the Temple of Heaven during the March 3 evening in a small ceremony in front of the Temple of Heaven The following day, unified fire was brought to Zhangjiakou and the in two another places in Beijing, including the Olympic Green.During the opening ceremony day the torch relay continued at three more locations including the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee (BOCOG) headquarters and finished at the same night the Beijing National Stadium during the opening ceremonies when the Paralympic Cauldron was lit.

Participating National Paralympics Committees

In total, 46 National Paralympic Committees have qualified athletes. Azerbaijan, Israel and Puerto Rico made their Winter Paralympic debut, while Liechtenstein, Estonia, and Latvia returned for the first time since Lillehammer 1994, Salt Lake 2002, and Turin 2006, respectively.^[14][15] Seven National Paralympic Committees that participated in PyeongChang 2018 did not send their delegations to Beijing: Armenia, Bulgaria, North Korea, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, Russia and Belarus were excluded from participation or prohibited from participating. A new record of 138 female athletes were scheduled to compete, which was five more than the 133 female athletes in 2018.^[15]

On 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee condemned the breach of the Olympic Truce (which lasts from the beginning of the Olympics through the end of the Paralympics) by Russia.^[16] President of the IPC Andrew Parsons stated that getting the Ukrainian team to Beijing would be a "mammoth challenge".^[17][18] The IOC called for the flags of both Russia and Belarus not to be displayed at any international sporting event, the latter due to the country's support of Russia's aggression, and officials of the Belarus Olympic Committee having been accused of political discrimination against Belarusian athletes. The Russian flag has already been prohibited from international sporting events through December 2021 due to sanctions by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and its athletes would have originally participated under the name "RPC" (Russian Paralympic Committee).^[19][20]

On 28 February 2022, the IOC Executive Board further called for Russian and Belarusian athletes not to be included in or allowed to participate in any international sporting event.^[21] On 2 March 2022, the IPC declared that Russian and Belarusian athletes would be included independently under or allowed to participate independently under the Paralympic flag, with their results not counting in the medal standings.^[22][23] As a result of criticism by several National Paralympic Committees, who threatened to boycott the Games, the IPC announced on 3 March 2022 that they would reverse their earlier decision, banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics.^[24][25][26] In response, Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov condemned the IPC for the decision.^[27] In response, Russia hosted a replacement event named "We are together, Sport" that was attended by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia.^[28][29]

Azerbaijan was scheduled to make its debut,^[30] but its only athlete was seriously injured at the last training session on the eve of the start and did not compete in his event. However, the country participated in the Parade of Nations in both the opening and closing ceremonies.^[31]

  Participating/allowed/included countries

  Debuting countries

  Host city (Beijing)

  Prohibited/excluded countries

Countries by team size

Participating National Paralympic Committees[1]

Andorra (1)[32]  Argentina (2)[33]  Australia (7)[34][1]  Austria (16)[35]  Azerbaijan (1)[36]  Belgium (2)[37]  Bosnia and Herzegovina (2)[1]  Brazil (6)[38]  Canada (45)[39][1]  Chile (4)[40][1]  China (96)[1] (Host)  Croatia (4)[1]  Czech Republic (21)[1]  Denmark (1)[41]  Estonia (5)[1]  Finland (6)[42]  France (15)[1]  Georgia (1)[1]  Germany (18)[43]  Great Britain (21)[1]  Greece (2)[44]  Hungary (1)[45]  Iceland (1)[1]  Iran (4)[46]  Israel (1)[47]  Italy (29)[1]  Japan (29)[48]  Kazakhstan (5)[49][50]  Latvia (5)[1]  Liechtenstein (1)[1]  Mexico (1)[51]  Mongolia (3)[52]  Netherlands (8)[1]  New Zealand (3)[1]  Norway (13)[1]  Poland (11)[53]  Puerto Rico (1)[54]  Romania (2)[55]  Slovakia (28)[1]  Slovenia (1)[56]  South Korea (32)[57]  Spain (2)[58]  Sweden (10)[1]  Switzerland (12)[1]  Ukraine (20)[59]  United States (65)[1]

Number of athletes by National Paralympic Committee

564 athletes from 46 NPCs:^[1][60]

Ranking	NPC	Athletes
1	China	96
2	United States	65
3	Canada	45
4	South Korea	32
5	Italy	29
6	Japan	29
7	Slovakia	28
8	Czech Republic	21
9	Great Britain	21
10	Ukraine	20
11	Germany	18
12	Austria	16
13	France	15
14	Norway	13
15	Switzerland	12
16	Poland	11
17	Sweden	10
18	Netherlands	8
19	Australia	7
20	Brazil	6
21	Finland	6
22	Estonia	5
23	Kazakhstan	5
24	Latvia	5
25	Chile	4
26	Croatia	4
27	Iran	4
28	Mongolia	3
29	New Zealand	3
30	Argentina	2
31	Belgium	2
32	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2
33	Greece	2
34	Romania	2
35	Spain	2
36	Andorra	1
37	Azerbaijan	1
38	Denmark	1
39	Georgia	1
40	Hungary	1
41	Iceland	1
42	Israel	1
43	Liechtenstein	1
44	Mexico	1
45	Puerto Rico	1
46	Slovenia	1
Total		564

Calendar

See also: Chronological summary of the 2022 Winter Paralympics

In the following calendar for the 2022 Winter Paralympics, each blue box represents an event competition. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held. The number in each yellow box represents the number of finals that were contested on that day.^[61] Some events, such as the men's and women's banked slalom snowboarding finals, were moved as a result of warm weather conditions.^[62][63][64]

All times and dates use China Standard Time (UTC+8)

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Gold medal events

CC

Closing ceremony

March 2022	March										Events
	4th Fri	5th Sat	6th Sun	7th Mon	8th Tue	9th Wed	10th Thu	11th Fri	12th Sat	13th Sun
Ceremonies	OC									CC	—
Alpine skiing		6	6	6			3	3	3	3	30
Biathlon		6			6			6			18
Cross-country skiing			2	4		6			6	2	20
Para ice hockey		●	●		●	●		●	●	1	1
Snowboarding			●	4				4			8
Wheelchair curling		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1		1
Daily medal events		12	8	14	6	6	3	13	10	6	78
Cumulative total		12	20	34	40	46	49	62	72	78
March 2022	4th Fri	5th Sat	6th Sun	7th Mon	8th Tue	9th Wed	10th Thu	11th Fri	12th Sat	13th Sun	Total events
	March

Medal summary

Main article: 2022 Winter Paralympics medal table

  *   Host nation (Host nation)

2022 Winter Paralympics medal table^[65]

Rank	NPC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China*	18	20	23	61
2	Ukraine	11	10	8	29
3	Canada	8	6	11	25
4	France	7	3	2	12
5	United States	6	11	3	20
6	Austria	5	5	3	13
7	Germany	4	8	7	19
8	Norway	4	2	1	7
9	Japan	4	1	2	7
10	Slovakia	3	0	3	6
11–19	Remaining	8	12	15	35
Totals (19 entries)		78	78	78	234

Podium sweeps

Main article: 2022 Winter Paralympics medal table § Podium sweeps

Date	Sport	Event	Team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref
5 March	Biathlon	Men's 6 kilometres vision impaired	Ukraine	Vitaliy Lukyanenko Guide: Borys Babar	Oleksandr Kazik Guide: Serhii Kucheriavyi	Dmytro Suiarko Guide: Oleksandr Nikonovych	[66]
7 March	Snowboarding	Men's snowboard cross UL	China	Yang Jian	Wang Pengyao	Zhu Yonggang
8 March	Biathlon	Women's 10 kilometres standing	Ukraine	Iryna Bui	Oleksandra Kononova	Liudmyla Liashenko
		Men's 10 kilometres vision impaired		Vitaliy Lukyanenko Guide: Borys Babar	Anatolii Kovalevskyi Guide: Oleksandr Mukshyn	Dmytro Suiarko Guide: Oleksandr Nikonovych

During the medals ceremony, the Ukrainians' men's 6 kilometres vision impaired biathlon silver and bronze medal teams were mistakenly placed in each other's podium positions.

Branding

Emblem

The emblem for the 2022 Winter Paralympics, "Flying High" ("飞得很高"), was unveiled alongside its Olympic counterpart on 15 December 2017 at the Beijing National Aquatics Center. Designed by Lin Cunzhen, it is a multi-coloured ribbon resembling the Chinese character for "fly" (飞"), and is designed to symbolize "an athlete in a wheelchair rushing towards the finish line and victory".^[67] They are the first Paralympics to use an updated version of the "agitos" emblem in an official capacity.^[68]

Mascot

Main article: Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon

The mascot "Shuey Rhon Rhon" (Chinese: 雪容融; pinyin: Xuě Róng Róng) was unveiled on 17 September 2019 at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena and was designed by Jiang Yufan.^[69] The mascot is designed with lanterns as the prototype. Lanterns represent harvest, celebration, warmth and light. The wishful shape at the top symbolizes auspicious happiness; the continuous pattern of the dove of peace and the Temple of Heaven symbolizes the peaceful friendship and highlights the characteristics of the place where the place is held; the decorative pattern incorporates the traditional Chinese paper-cut art; the snow on the face represents the meaning of "a fall of seasonable snow gives promise of a fruitful year" (Chinese: 瑞雪兆丰年; pinyin: Ruìxuě zhào fēngnián). It also reflects the anthropomorphic design and highlights the mascot's cuteness.^[70]

See also

• Sports portal

Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted in China:

• 2008 Summer Olympics
• 2008 Summer Paralympics
• 2022 Winter Olympics

Notes

1. Xi Jinping is current China's nominal head of state, serving as Chinese president. Xi is also the general secretary of the Communist Party, the most powerful position in China, serving as the paramount leader of China.