What to watch as the Paralympics get underway
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The 13th Winter Paralympics began Friday in Beijing with two fewer competing nations than expected.
The backdrop: The IPC on Thursday banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Games, reversing its previous decision that would have allowed them to compete under the neutral Paralympic flag.
- "The environment in the village is deteriorating," IPC president Andrew Parsons told NYT, citing the athlete anger and boycott threats that led to the reversal.
The other side: "[The] decision ... to bar our team is a blatant violation of athletes' rights," said Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin.
The intrigue: Coming off the most-watched Paralympics ever in Tokyo, NBC will air the Winter Paralympics in primetime for the first time ever. That, plus the political climate, could draw similar record viewership.
Details: 736 athletes representing a record 49 delegations will compete in Beijing, including Team USA star Oksana Masters, who was born in Ukraine.
- Paralympians will live in the same athletes' village that hosted Olympians last month, which has been upgraded to meet all accessibility requirements.
- Six venues in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou will host 78 medal events across six sports: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, sled hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling.
- Three delegations are making their Winter Paralympics debut (Azerbaijan, Israel, Puerto Rico), and three more are back after lengthy absences (Liechtenstein, Estonia, Latvia).
