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 called for both Russia and its supporter Belarus to be excluded from international sporting events. 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.
Beijing was selected as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics after beating Almaty by four votes on 31 July 2015 at the 128thIOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[7]
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]
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]
On 28 February 2022, the IOC Executive Board further called for Russian and Belarusian athletes not to be allowed to participate in any international sporting event.[21] On 2 March 2022, the IPC declared that Russian and Belarusian athletes would be 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] In response, Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov condemned the IPC for the decision.[26] In response, Russia hosted a replacement event named "We are together, Sport" that was attended by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia.[27][28]
Azerbaijan was scheduled to make its debut,[29] 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.[30]
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.[60] Some events, such as the men's and women's banked slalom snowboarding finals, were moved as a result of warm weather conditions.[61][62][63]
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".[66] They are the first Paralympics to use an updated version of the "agitos" emblem in an official capacity.[67]
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.[68] 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.[69]
^"Beijing 2022 - Team". Österreichisches Paralympisches Committee (in German). Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
^"Atleten & Team" [Athletes & Team]. Belgian Paralympic Committee (in Dutch). 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
^"Peking 2022: Ein junges Team im Umbruch" [Beijing 2022: A young team in upheaval]. Team Deutschland Paralympics (in German). 28 January 2022. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
^"Lesz magyar versenyző a pekingi paralimpián" [He will be a Hungarian competitor at the Beijing Paralympics]. origo.hu (in Hungarian). 15 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
^"北京2022冬季パラリンピック日本代表を一挙紹介（※2022年2月8日更新）" [Introducing the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Japan National Team (* Updated on 8 February 2022)]. parasapo.tokyo (in Japanese). 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
^"蒙古国三名滑雪运动员将参加北京冬残奥会" [Three Mongolian skiers to participate in Beijing Winter Paralympics]. sina.com.cn (in Chinese (China)). 16 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
^"Paralimpijske igre Peking 2022" [Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games]. Slovenian Paralympic Committee (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
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