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03/04 08:39 CST Winter Paralympics 50th anniversary: Chinese dominance expected
amid boycotts over Russian flag
Winter Paralympics 50th anniversary: Chinese dominance expected amid boycotts
over Russian flag
By TALES AZZONI
AP Sports Writer
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) --- The Winter Paralympics come to Milan Cortina
to celebrate their 50th anniversary, with China looking to extend its dominance
as a Paralympic powerhouse and Ukraine and other nations boycotting the opening
ceremony over the return of the Russian flag and anthem.
The Games will officially kick off on Friday amid the tensions of the war in
the Middle East, which prompted travel difficulties for some of the nations
coming to Italy because of a widespread flight disruptions.
Iran was due to have one skier at Milan Cortina. Wheelchair curling kickstarted
the competition schedule on Wednesday.
The Paralympic Games are back in Italy 20 years after Torino 2006. It will be
the 14th edition of the Winter Paralympics since the inaugural edition in
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, in 1976. Nearly 200 athletes competed in two sports at
the time. Some 660 athletes will participate across the six sports in Italy
from Friday through March 15.
The U.S. is sending a 72-member squad to Italy, compared to the 67-member
roster it took to Beijing 2022. This year's delegation includes Oksana Masters,
the most decorated American Winter Paralympian, and 16-year-old Para alpine
skier Meg Gustafson.
Russian flag returns
Russian athletes will compete under their own flag at the Paralympics for the
first time in more than a decade, and the country's national anthem could be
played for gold medalists for the first time on the stage of a major global
sporting event since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Russian flag hasn't been flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 Winter
Games in Sochi, while the national anthem has not been heard at any Olympics or
Paralympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.
It could be the first time the anthem is played on the stage of any major
global sporting event in four years.
Ukraine was the first to announce that it was planning to boycott the opening
ceremony because of Russia, and seven other nations were planning not to attend
because of political reasons: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia,
Poland, Lithuania and the Netherlands.
Some other nations are not attending the opening ceremony to rest their
athletes ahead of their competitions, not as a boycott.
Russian athletes were initially banned because of a state-sponsored doping
program, and the sanctions had continued since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine's sports minister Matvii Bidnyi had said in a social media post the
nation will "not take part in any other official Paralympic events."
Russian athletes and athletes from Russia's close ally, Belarus, were awarded
slots by the International Paralympic Committee on Feb. 17.
Russian and Belarussian athletes had been competing as individual neutral
athletes without their flag, anthem or team colors.
The IPC said most teams were already in Europe for training, but it was helping
out others with travel amid the war in the Middle East.
Chinese dominance
The Milan Cortina Games will give China the chance to establish itself as the
nation to beat in both the Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.
The Chinese topped the medal count in the Summer Paralympics every time since
2004, and four years ago won the Winter Games for the first time with a
record-setting performance that included 18 gold medals, 20 silver and 23
bronze.
China had more than 90 Para athletes competing at its home Games in 2022, the
most ever by any nation, and is sending another large delegation to Italy this
time. It will have 70 athletes competing in Italy, making its largest ever
overseas delegation.
Norway is the most successful nation in Winter Paralympics, ahead of the United
States and Austria. China is 14th in the all-time medal table but competed in
less than half of the Games in which Norway, the U.S. and Austria participated
since the first Winter Paralympics in Ornskoldsvik.
China's push to dominate in the Winter Paralympics got a boost when it was
picked to host the Beijing Games, where it won 60 more medals than the single
one it had won in PyeongChang in 2018.
The push continued after the home Games, with government funds still being made
available for Paralympic programs and changes being promoted on several fronts,
including new laws for people with disabilities to encourage their access to
sports.
"China developed hundreds of disability sport instructors and coaches with
government funding since they started the investment in Paralympic sports. They
trained coaches for mass participation and they've been training coaches for
the elite sports," said NaRi Shin, an assistant professor of sport management
at the University of Michigan.
"They have national Para games and regional games within the nation's boundary,
but also had the Olympic Games in 2008 and the Winter Games in 2022, so they do
have maintained the series of competitions so that these athletes who they
trained have the experience of competing at the higher level," said Shin, who
is an expert in sport development and on how East Asian countries have invested
in the Olympics and Paralympics.
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AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games
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