2022 Winter Paralympics

As part of a formal agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee first established in 2001, the winner of the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics was also to host the 2022 Winter Paralympics. 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. ==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". 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". 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. ==Closing ceremony==

The closing ceremony was held on 13 March 2022. The ceremony closed after nine days of competition and 78 events at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China. == Sports ==

Seventy-eight events in five sports were held during the 2022 Winter Paralympics, two lower than 2018. 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. • • Nordic skiing • • • • • == Venues ==

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==

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, the unified fire was brought to Zhangjiakou and two another places in Beijing, including the Olympic Green. During the opening day, the torch relay continued at three more locations including the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee (BOCOG) headquarters and finished the same night at 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. 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. President of the IPC Andrew Parsons stated that getting the Ukrainian team to Beijing would be a "mammoth challenge". 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). 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. 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. 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. In response, Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov condemned the IPC for the decision. In response, Russia hosted a replacement event named "We are together, Sport" that was attended by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia. Azerbaijan was scheduled to make its debut, 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. Number of athletes by National Paralympic Committee 564 athletes from 46 NPCs: ==Calendar==

Podium sweeps 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" (""), 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". They are the first Paralympics to use an updated version of the "agitos" emblem in an official capacity. Mascot The mascot "Shuey Rhon Rhon" () was unveiled on 17 September 2019 at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena and was designed by Jiang Yufan. 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" (). It also reflects the anthropomorphic design and highlights the mascot's cuteness. == Broadcasting ==

In January 2021, Infront Sports & Media acquired the rights to the 2022 Winter Paralympics and 2024 Summer Paralympics in 51 European countries (aside from Great Britain for 2022 and France for 2024), replacing the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which had held the pan-European rights since 2014. The rights would be resold to broadcasters in each region. ==See also==