To limit the costs of this 13th edition of the Paralympic Games, and as is customary, the Chinese organizers obviously relied on the facilities of the Olympic Games, which ended on Sunday.

The three main competition cities will again be Beijing and, in the mountains, Zhangjiakou, 120 km northwest of the Chinese capital, and Yanqing, 75 km northwest.

Beijing will host ice sports (sledge hockey and curling), Zhangjiakou will host cross-country skiing, biathlon and snowboarding, and Yanqing will host alpine skiing events.

The French delegation will be made up of 19 athletes, including four guides for the para alpine skiing (2) and para Nordic skiing (2) events, with in particular the presence of its star of winter sports, Marie Bochet, who should certainly play his last Games.

At 27, the para-skier from the Albertville Ski Club has already won eight Paralympic titles in the standing category, four in Sochi in 2014 and as many in Pyeongchang in 2018.

Its versatility works wonders since it has won at least once in all the disciplines on the program (downhill, super-G, giant, slalom and super-combined).

In 2018, France finished fourth in the medal table with seven gold, eight silver and five bronze.

During the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium, the tricolor flag bearer will be Benjamin Daviet, specialist in Nordic para skiing.

Daviet the confidant

“It is a huge honor to be elected flag bearer. I thank the athletes for their confidence in me and will do my best to be the captain, the confidant, the spokesperson and to contribute to enhance the diversity and richness of this delegation!", Daviet said when he was elected in early February.

Frenchman Benjamin Daviet after France's victory in the 4x2.5km mixed relay during the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang on March 18, 2018 Thomas LOVELOCK OIS/IOC/AFP/Archives

“We have a great delegation, admittedly small but strong and which has shown it at the world championships,” he added to AFP, referring in particular to the ten titles won by the Blues in Lillehammer ( Norway) in January, for a total of twenty podiums.

Little exposed to the media, para-athletes will take advantage of these ten Paralympic days, where the weather should be milder than during the Olympic Games, with several days lag, to be highlighted.

In the absence of spectators, since the Paralympic Games will take place with a very limited number of guests, viewers will be able to discover that curling is played exclusively in wheelchairs, in teams of four and mixed, or that sledge hockey is reserved for athletes with lower body disabilities.

For Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing (Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing) and Snowboarding events, there are three main categories: visually impaired, standing para skiers and seated para skiers.

These athletes will be subject to the same restrictions as their teammates who participated in the Olympics: daily tests, prohibition to leave the bubble and wearing a compulsory mask or, failing that, a visor.

The organizers will benefit from their experience of 2008, since Beijing is the first city to host the Paralympic Games in summer (2008) and winter (2022), as for the Olympic Games.

A difference all the same with the Olympic Games: The mascot will not be Bing Dwen Dwen, the famous costumed panda, but a "living lantern" named Shuey Rhon Rhon, a name that evokes the fusion of snow and heat.

© 2022 AFP