China News Service Client, Beijing, March 4th (Bian Liqun) On the evening of the 4th, the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics will be held at the National Stadium "Bird's Nest".

In the residual temperature after the closing of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xue Rongrong officially "take over" Bing Dun Dun.

　　From the competition venue to the event guarantee to the urban landscape, in 12 days, the "Double Olympic City" completed the mode conversion in an orderly manner.

Everything is ready for the opening day of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.

The transformation of the landscape flower bed from the Winter Olympics to the Winter Paralympic urban landscape layout is completed.

Image source: Visual China

　　Compared with the Winter Olympics, which has a history of nearly a hundred years, the Winter Paralympics has a short history, less than half a century.

After the end of World War II, some veterans injured in the war tried to re-engage in skiing, and disabled winter sports gradually developed.

　　The first Winter Paralympics was held in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden in 1976, with 250 athletes from 16 countries and regions participating.

The upcoming Beijing Winter Paralympics will be the 13th Winter Paralympic Games in history. Disabled athletes from 49 countries and regions around the world will chase their dreams in Beijing and Zhangjiakou.

In the wheelchair curling final of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games, the Chinese team defeated Norway 6-5 in overtime to win the first Winter Paralympic gold medal in the history of the Chinese delegation.

　　The first time a Chinese sports delegation participated in the Winter Paralympics was in Salt Lake City, USA in 2002.

In recent years, China's disabled winter sports have developed rapidly. The number of national Winter Paralympic athletes has grown from less than 50 to nearly 1,000, and the number of technical officials has grown from nothing to more than 100.

　　In the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games, the Chinese wheelchair curling team defeated Norway 6:5 in the final, winning the first gold medal in history for the Chinese sports delegation.

　　At the current Beijing Winter Paralympics, there are 217 Chinese sports delegations, including 96 athletes.

The athletes come from 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, including 7 ethnic groups including Han, Manchu, Wa, Dai, Dong, Yi and Miao.

　　The athletes of the Chinese sports delegation are all amateurs, and their occupations include workers, farmers, students, staff and freelancers.

The average age of the athletes is 25 years old, the oldest is 45-year-old alpine skier Zhang Haiyuan, and the youngest is 17-year-old snowboarder Geng Yanhong.

On March 2, the fire collection ceremony for the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics was held at the China Braille Library to collect the "fire of hope".

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Xinglong

　　The rapid development of winter sports for the disabled in China is inseparable from the development of the cause of the disabled in China, which is fully reflected in the humanized barrier-free facilities and ubiquitous humanistic care of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.

　　The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee organized the compilation of the "Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games Accessibility Guidelines" and "Accessibility Guidelines Technical Index Atlas" as the normative basis for the barrier-free construction of venues.

The decorative board of the Winter Paralympic mascot "Xue Rongrong".

Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu

　　The Yanqing Winter Paralympic Village has set up barrier-free entrances and exits at the entrances and exits of each service area. The window handles, power sockets, switch panels, and emergency call buttons in the bedrooms are all lowered in height, and the furniture can also meet the needs of the disabled.

The door of the bathroom is a rail-type sliding door, and there is no threshold and height difference on the ground.

In order to facilitate the dining of disabled athletes, liquid food mixers and Braille menus have been added to the dining table.

　　The competition venues are also athlete-centric, paying attention to every detail.

For example, the National Gymnasium, which hosts the Winter and Paralympic ice hockey competitions, is specially covered with a 300-square-meter imitation ice board to facilitate the free entry and exit of athletes on ice sleds, and the board wall in the waiting area for athletes has also been replaced with a transparent board wall.

　　With everything in place, the Beijing Winter Paralympics will be as exciting as the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Just like the connotation expressed by the emblem of the Beijing Winter Paralympics - "Leaping", athletes will uphold the Winter Paralympic spirit of surpassing themselves, constantly leaping, striving hard, and inspiring the world, and chasing their youthful dreams on the field.

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