Paralympic Winter Games celebrate 50 years in Milan-Cortina amid sport and political tensions
Athletes will compete in six different sports, spread across three venues in northern Italy, from March 6 to 15.
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Winter Games are celebrating their 50th anniversary with their Milan-Cortina edition, which kicks off Friday with an opening ceremony in Verona.
Athletes will compete in six different sports, spread across three venues in northern Italy from March 6 to 15.
The epicenter of these Paralympic Winter Games will be the exclusive winter resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, in the Dolomites, where wheelchair curling, alpine para-skiing and parasnowboarding will be contested.
At the Arena Santagiulia in Milan the Paralympic ice hockey tournament will be played, just like at the recent Olympic Games, while for parabiathlon and cross-country para-skiing they have the Val di Fiemme as their venue.
Among the most prominent figures in the Paralympic movement are Oksana Masters and Brenna Huckaby, two U.S. athletes who continue to make headlines for their sporting achievements and impact in and out of competition.
Masters is a Paralympic athlete who competes in both summer and winter Games. Throughout her career she has participated in disciplines such as rowing and adapted cycling, in addition to parabiathlon. In the latter specialty she achieved one of her greatest recent successes by winning two gold medals in the seated category in 2022, consolidating herself as one of the most versatile athletes in Paralympic sport.
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Huckaby, for her part, is one of the great references in adapted snowboarding. The American is a three-time champion in this discipline and also stands out for her work off the slopes as an activist for the rights of people with disabilities. Her career has been recognized at the ESPY Awards, where she has been named Twice Best American Athlete with a Disability.
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Among the figures to watch at the event is British parasnowboarder Davy Zyw, who will become the first man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to compete in the Paralympics.
Double Paralympic triathlon champion at the Summer Games Lauren Parker will make her debut in the winter version of the event, representing Australia in parabiathlon and cross-country para-skiing.
Meanwhile, Salvadoran cross-country skiers David Chavez and Jonathan Arias will make history by becoming the first athletes from their country to compete in the Winter Games, whether Olympic or Paralympic.
A Games marked by politics
Thus, Ukraine announced that it was deciding to boycott the opening, where those two countries will parade with their flags, something that did not happen in recent major events, when athletes from both countries were only allowed to be part of a neutral delegation, as happened for example at the recent Winter Olympics.
Ukraine's boycott focuses on the opening ceremony and the country will indeed be in the Paralympic competition, where it also traditionally achieves very good results.
Several governments also announced in recent days their boycott of the Paralympic ceremonies.
On Wednesday, France did so and this Thursday the British government joined in.
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