Xi Jinping in the stands, the audience in the stands, at the 'Bird's Nest'
the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics has started
.
564 athletes parade at the Beijing National Stadium (equaled the attendance record of PyeongChang) with the highest number of women ever (138 against 133 at the 2018 Winter Paralympics) and representing 46 National Paralympic Committees from all over the world.
Following the decision of the International Paralympic Committee,
Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in these Games following the invasion of Ukraine.
.
The Italian delegation, which from Beijing will pick up the baton in view of Milan-Cortina 2026, is led by the standard-bearer Giacomo Bertagnolli, a visually impaired skier with two gold, silver and bronze medals won in PyeongChang in 2018.
A long applause from the public welcomed and accompanied the parade of the Ukrainian delegation, who entered the track of the Bird's Nest stadium behind the national flag and wearing a suit that reproduced it, with the traditional yellow and blue colors.
The number one of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons stood up to applaud as a sign of respect and solidarity for the Russian aggression.
"I am horrified by what is happening in these days: the Olympic and Paralympic truce, a resolution voted by the UN with the contribution of all countries, has been violated".
This is the message launched by Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympics
, amid thunderous applause of the stadium audience.
"The Olympic truce is a UN resolution voted by all countries - said Parsons - The athletes are here as competitors, not against each other", he added referring to the refusal of some delegations to face the Russians.
It was supposed to be a global celebration,
the opening ceremony of the 13th Winter Paralympics but the war in Ukraine will dramatically change not only the scenario in distant China but also the protagonists, after the exclusion from the Games of Russian and Belarusian athletes
.
Instead, there is the Ukrainian delegation, whose arrival in China was described as a 'miracle' by the president of the Paralympic Committee in Kiev
, Valeriy Sushkevych, who emphasized the many manifestations of solidarity received.
The competitions will start tomorrow and will go on until Sunday 13 March, when the closing ceremony will also be held.
Three competition venues, as in the recently concluded Winter Games, divided between Beijing and the mountain resorts of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
The very strict anti-covid regulations imposed by the Chinese authorities are also the same, including continuous checks and impenetrable 'bubbles' in the three villages, in the competition venues and along the routes that unite them.
As happened in the Winter Games, in the waiting for which he spoke only of Covid, organizers and athletes hope that with the start of the competition the sport will have the upper hand, even if it will not be so for the 83 Russian and Belarusian athletes, to whom the president of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, expressed regret.
