The Winter Games are celebrating 50 years and the Russian flag is making a comeback
by TALES AZZONI
The Winter Paralympics are celebrating their 50th anniversary in Milan Cortina, where Ukraine is expected to boycott the opening ceremony as the Russian flag and national anthem return to the world sports stage.
Five decades after some 200 athletes competed in two games at the 1976 Ornskoldsvik Winter Paralympics in Sweden, more than 600 athletes are expected to take part in six games in Italy from March 6-15.
The opening ceremony on March 6 at the Arena di Verona marks the first time a Paralympic event is being held at a UNESCO World Heritage site. The old Arena has been retrofitted with new wheelchair ramps and accessible restrooms and other safety improvements.
The closing ceremony on March 15 is at the renovated Cortina Curling Stadium, the former site of the 1956 Winter Olympics.
The Winter Paralympics come 20 years after Italy hosted them for the first time in Turin.
China hosted the Paralympics four years ago in Beijing and set a 61-year record for medals in a single winter event.
The Russian flag is coming back
The Russian flag has not been flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, and the national anthem has not been heard at any Olympics or Paralympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.
It will be the first time in four years that the anthem has been played at any major world sporting event. Russian athletes were initially banned because of a state-sponsored doping program, and sanctions continued after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The sports minister of Ukraine said that the nation will not be present at the opening ceremony.
“We will not participate in any official Paralympic events,” sports minister Matvii Bidnyi said in a statement after the IPC announced the return of the Russian flag and national anthem on February 18.
A few sanctioned Russian and Belarusian athletes competed as individual athletes without their flag, national anthem or team colours.
Top athletes
Oksana Masters, born in Ukraine with birth defects caused by radiation, is America’s most decorated Winter Paralympian with 14 medals to go with five Summer Paralympic medals. In Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing, Masters became the first American to win seven medals – in seven events – at a single Paralympics in Beijing.
Fellow American Brenna Huckaby, whose right leg was amputated when she was 14, will try to win her fifth and sixth medals in Para snowboarding. Huckaby has three golds and a bronze.
Italy’s Giacomo Bertagnolli, who is visually impaired, will have the chance to add to his four Paralympic gold medals and 10 world titles while competing at home in all five Para alpine skiing events.
Norway’s Jesper Pedersen, who was born with spina bifida, won four of the five medals in Para alpine skiing in Beijing and is set to fight for another medal in Italy.
Wang Haitao won wheelchair gold in PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing, becoming only the second captain to win back-to-back Paralympic titles after Canada’s Jim Armstrong. Wang will try to become the first three-time Paralympic champion in the sport.
Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova, who has a paralyzed right arm, won three gold medals in Para biathlon and Para biathlon cross-country skiing at the age of 19 in Vancouver in 2010. He has won two more Paralympic titles and more than ten world titles since then despite injuries.
Six games
– Para alpine skiing: Introduced at the first Winter Paralympics in 1976, it includes five events – slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill and super combined. Athletes use monoskis, outriggers or audio transmission systems for visually impaired competitors.
– Para biathlon: It combines the strength and endurance of cross-country skiing with the precision and calmness of target shooting. Athletes compete on a variable height ski course in three classes: Visually impaired, standing and sitting.
– Cross-country skiing: Five events divided into three categories: Standing, sitting (for sit-skiers) and blind (for competitive skaters).
– Para ice hockey: First released in Lillehammer in 1994. As of 2010, it was a mixed-gender game. It is played by athletes with physical disabilities in the lower limbs. Players use sleds made of aluminum or steel, and use two blades and two sticks to push and catch the puck.
– Para snowboard: Released in Sochi in 2014 as part of the alpine skiing program. Two events in three categories for men and one for women depending on the handicap.
– Wheelchair folding: Celebrating its 20th anniversary. Players can choose to throw the rock alone or with a teammate holding the wheelchair still. Athletes can use an extender to add speed and direction. For the first time this program will have a mixed team event and a pair competition.
A way of looking
The Peacock will be the US broadcast home of the Milan Cortina Paralympics. The service will broadcast all games and events and will include all series, replays of full events, originals, clips and more.
Daily highlights will be available on NBC, NBCUniversal’s digital platforms and Versant’s CNBC and USA Network.
The Eastern time zone in the US is six hours behind Milan and Cortina.
AP Winter Olympics:
