Where can you find 78 different events throughout 6 sports in 2 disciplines? Starting March 4th, tune in to the thirteenth edition of the Winter Paralympic Games! Being held in Beijing, China, the Games are running from the 4th to 13th of March, 2022. If you were looking for all of your Paralympic information in one spot, you’ve come to the right place; this guide includes each Paralympic sport, the dates that they run, an interesting fact about the event, and background information on some key athletes!
Para Alpine Skiing – March 5, 6, 8 & 10-13
This sport has been in every single Winter Paralympic Games, and there have been a total of 486 gold medal winners in the Games’ history. Athletes are grouped based on functional ability with sitting, standing, and vision impaired categories. Para-alpine skiing involves athletes in six events: downhill, slalom, giant slalom, super-G, super combined, and team events.
Athletes to watch:
Mollie Jepsen is a Canadian alpine skier who has had one of the most impressive performances on the World Cup circuit this season. Out of the seven World Cup events she has raced in this year, she made it to the podium in all seven of them! Being already so acquainted with the podium, Jepsen is ready to make her mark in China. Her Paralympic history proves that this is possible, as a teenager at her first Games in 2018 she medaled in four of her five events and was named best female athlete by the Canadian Paralympic Committee. As the reigning Paralympic champion in the Super Combined standing event, she will be one to watch as she hopes to defend her medal and improve her standings in her other para-alpine events to add more hardware to her already impressive collection.
Akira Kano is a Japanese sit-skier who has his eyes on winning a medal in Japan. If he wins a medal, it will be added to his masterful collection of three Paralympic gold medals and one silver. At 35 years old, Kano is no stranger to the Paralympics, having competed at every Winter edition since 2006 in Torino, Italy, he is well acquainted with the world stage. His medals are in the Super-G and downhill sitting events, so catch him zipping down the hills of the Yanqing ski course, located northwest of Beijing.
Henrieta Farkašová has to be mentioned when discussing the greats of para-alpine skiing. Representing Slovakia in the visually impaired category with her sighted guide (Michal Červeň) the nine-time Paralympic champion and seventeen-time World Champion is a force to be reckoned with. After her last Paralympic experience in 2018, she left PyeongChang with five medals, four of which were gold, and subsequently received the Best Female award from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for her performance in South Korea. Competing in fifteen finals throughout three Winter Games, Farkašová has medaled in all but three events, so the odds are in her favour in Beijing.
Para Biathlon – March 5, 8 & 11
As one of the two Nordic Skiing competitions held at the Paralympics this year, athletes will ski a distance between 6 and 15km, with two rounds of shooting in between laps. Blind athletes compete in this event by skiing with a sighted guide and using an electronic rifle that is aimed by hearing – when the rifle is pointed at the centre of the target, the tone is at its highest pitch, and gets lower as it is moved further away.
Athletes to watch:
Anja Wicker is coming to Beijing looking for redemption after a disappointing performance in PyeongChang, South Korea at the 2018 Paralympics. A member of Team Germany, Wicker won the 10km sitting biathlon event in 2014 and came second in the 12.5km sitting biathlon event. She came out on top as overall champion in her 2020-2021 Biathlon World Cup season in the women’s sitting class. Wicker will be coming into these Games at the peak of her physical performance, and with the passion to bring home hardware – keep an eye on her performance!
Mark Arendz will be competing at his fourth Paralympic Games and is looking to defend his title as Paralympic Champion of the 2018 15km biathlon race. Representing Canada, Arendz will be competing in biathlon and cross country skiing events. With eight medals from previous Paralympics – six of which were in 2018, he will be looking to add more to his collection in the LW6 classification of para biathlon and cross-country skiing events.
At her first Paralympics in 2018, Clara Klug of Germany came home with two bronze medals in both the women’s 10km and 12.5km visually impaired biathlon races. She has been skiing alongside her sighted guide and coach (Martin Härtl) for Team Germany Paralympics since 2014. In 2019, Klug became World Champion in her classification across all three biathlon distances (6km, 10km & 12.5km). Competing in the B1 classification, all B1 athletes must wear completely darkened glasses, and shoot without any vision. This isn’t a problem for Klug, as she consistently and impressively hits all five 21mm targets from 10m away. As one of the Para-Biathlon Greats, Klug is one to watch!
Para Cross-Country Skiing – March 6, 7, 9, 12 & 13
The second Nordic Skiing competition in Beijing will feature a wide variety of distances that athletes will ski – up to 30km! Skiing with either a classical or free technique, the sport is adapted so that athletes can use a sit-ski, or have a sighted guide, depending on their impairment.
Athletes to watch:
Brian McKeever is Canada’s most decorated winter Paralympian with 17 medals to his name – 13 of which are gold! He will be competing at his sixth Games alongside his guides, Graham Nishikawa* and Russell Kennedy* (*pending IPC approval). McKeever has made history books throughout his entire career, one of the highlights being the first athlete to be named to both the Winter Olympic and Paralympic teams in 2010, however he was not able to compete at the Olympics that year, but did win three gold medals at that year’s Paralympics. Planning to retire after this competition, McKeever will be putting on a spectacular performance to cap off a record-breaking career.
Grace Miller is one of the youngest members on the American Para Nordic Skiing Team, but she is no stranger to the Paralympics, having also competed in 2018. Miller has represented her country in both para nordic skiing sports, however she did not make the podium as an 18 year old at her last Paralympics. Having trained with her college team at the University of Alaska since her last Paralympic appearance, she is now a seasoned competitor searching to podium in her LW8 classification.
Cristian Ribera has made his mark on Para Nordic Skiing and on his country of Brazil. At the 2018 Paralympics, he finished sixth in the Men’s 15km sitting event which was the best ever result for Brazil at the Winter Olympics or Paralympics – and he did that at only 15 years old! Ribera has only improved on the world circuit since then, with a recent silver medal at the Para Snow Sports World Cup in January 2022. His sister, Eduarda Ribera, competed in the Beijing Olympics, after taking up cross-country skiing to follow her brother, Cristian, into the sport. As one of the few athletes from South America participating at the Games, Ribera is a medal contender that a whole continent can support.
Para Ice Hockey – March 4 – 12
Previously known as sledge hockey, this sport is played on double-bladed sledges with two dual-purpose sticks (each has a spike-end and a blade-end) for athletes with a lower body impairment. This sport started with just a men’s tournament at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, but since 2010, the tournament has been mixed, allowing female players to compete on the same teams.
Athletes to watch:
Michal Geier is the captain of the Czech para ice hockey team, and has the potential to lead his team to a podium finish at his fourth Paralympics. The Czech Republic has narrowly missed out on medaling in ice hockey at the Paralympics with sixth and fifth place finishes in recent years. The team is made of several veterans, goalkeeper Michal Vápenka will be at his fifth Paralympics, as well as fresh rookies. The Czech Republic made it to the semi-finals at the recent World Championship in Ostrava, Geier having 7 goals to his name in the tournament. It’s no surprise that he was the MVP at the 2019 World Para Ice Hockey Championship, and he will be one to watch as he attempts to bring his team closer to a medal.
Rico Roman plays forward for Team USA and has already won back-to-back gold medals for his country at the Paralympics in ice hockey. Skating at his most recent World Championship in 2021, Roman captured gold, which he added to his collection of two golds and two silvers at previous World Championships. He will be the oldest member on the team, joining 11 returning athletes who will be looking for USA’s fourth consecutive gold medal finish in this sport at the Paralympics.
Billy Bridges made his first Canadian National Team for sledge hockey, when he was just 14 years old, and has competed at the Paralympics since 2002. However, his experience hasn’t slowed him down, as a forward he has a nearly 130 km/h slapshot (keep in mind that shooting is only done with one arm!), which gives him a very high scoring potential. Being a four-time World Champion, Bridges is focusing on the success of his team and ultimately upgrading the silver medal won in 2018 to a gold medal.
Para Snowboard – March 6,7,11 & 12
Para Snowboard made its first Paralympic appearance in 2014 which makes it the newest Winter Paralympic sport. This sport involves athletes across 2 events: banked slalom, and snowboard cross; and 3 classifications.
Athletes to watch:
Brenna Huckaby of Team USA was only allowed to compete at the 2022 Paralympics after a historic German court decision in January 2022. Winning gold in both of her races in 2018, she is one of the best snowboarders in her SB-LL1 classification. However, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) originally did not include her category at the 2022 Games and would not allow her to compete based on her level of impairment in any other categories. After Huckaby went to the courts, the decision was made that she could compete in the SB-LL2 classification, for athletes with lower levels of impairment. After impressive podium finishes at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships, she is coming to Beijing to prove herself to the IPC and the rest of the world.
Sandrine Hamel of Canada came home with fifth place finishes in the SB-LL2 banked slalom and snowboard cross races at the PyeongChang 2018 Games. Her goal is to win a medal in Beijing, and based on her World Cup season, this is within reach for Hamel. At her last World Championships in 2019, she won two silver medals, so the podium is in her sights in Beijing.
Ben Tudhope will represent Australia in the SB-LL2 classification in his third Winter Paralympics at only age 22. And yes, you did the math right, he was 14 years old at his first Paralympics in 2014, making him the youngest competitor in Sochi! With a series of World Cup podium finishes this season, Tudhope is at the top of his game. Having finished in the Top 10 of his events at the last two Paralympics, he is building on those experiences and has the potential to improve his ranking.
Wheelchair Curling – March 5-12
This sport is a mixed event, where men and women with lower body impairments compete on the same team – one woman from each team must be on the ice at all times. This sport is based around accuracy and precision, without any sweeping involved, the throw of the player’s stone must be faultless in order to land in the button (if this lingo is confusing, you should hurry hard to watch wheelchair curling!).
Athletes to watch:
Meggan Dawson-Farrell will represent Team Great Britain in Beijing, however she wasn’t always a wheelchair curler, she holds the Scottish record for distances from 400m up to the marathon in the T54 women’s classification. As the youngest of the five members of the Scottish team, Dawson-Farrell is looking to upgrade Britain’s wheelchair curling silver and bronze medal to a gold.
Liu Wei won gold for China at the 2018 Games, and will be defending that title on home soil in March. Along with his four teammates, Wei won gold at the 2021 World Championships. These World Championships were held at the “Ice Cube” in Beijing, which is the venue of wheelchair curling at these Games. Having the home ice and defending champion advantage, this team is coming into the Games with experience and skill.
Ina Forrest is one of the most decorated wheelchair curlers, and competing for Team Canada, the most decorated wheelchair curling team at the Paralympics, she is a force to be reckoned with. As a two-time Paralympic champion, Forrest is joined by Dennis Thiessen, Collinda Joseph, Jon Thurston, and Mark Ideson. Together, the team has a combined seven Paralympic medals, but after a fifth place finish at the 2021 World Championships, they are coming to Beijing to prove themselves to the world once more.
