The Winter Paralympics start in Beijing on Friday. Until March 13, more than 700 athletes in six sports will compete for 78 gold medals and personal top performances. The corona virus and the war in Ukraine make it difficult to focus on sport. The most important thing about the sports, the German team and everything else.
What competitions are there at the Winter Paralympics?
Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, snowboarding, curling and ice hockey – these six sports are at the Paralympics in winter. More than 700 athletes from 50 nations are fighting for 78 gold medals.
In alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and biathlon, the participants are divided into the three categories “visually impaired”, “physically disabled standing” and “physically disabled sitting”. In alpine skiing, the visually impaired athletes complete the course with the help of a guide, who uses acoustic signals to indicate the running direction. The seated use the so-called monoski. A handicap system ensures that benefits can be compared despite the differentiated types of disability. The time is multiplied by a certain factor depending on the degree of disability.
Martin Fleig and Anja Wicker compete in cross-country skiing and biathlon.
(Photo: imago images/Ralf Kuckuck)
In biathlon and cross-country skiing, wheelchair users and athletes with severe walking disabilities use a sit-ski, a special ski sled, while visually impaired athletes run on conventional cross-country skis and are supported by a companion. The athletes of all categories in the biathlon do not carry their guns with them on the running rounds, but only pick them up at the shooting range. The targets are ten meters apart. The visually impaired athletes aim using an acoustic signal. The higher the tone, the more the shooter aims in the center.
Snowboard competitions are the youngest sport at the Paralympics, having been there since 2014. In snowboard cross, the athletes ride on a race track that consists of different racing and freestyle elements. There is also the so-called banked slalom. The snowboarders ride for time in a course prepared with steep curves. All participants fight against time three times. The fastest run will be determined for the final result.
Wheelchair curling has been part of the Paralympic program since 2006, mixed teams compete against each other, at least one woman must belong to each team. Unlike curling for the able-bodied, there is no sweeping.
High speed, high physical commitment, lightning-fast actions and worth seeing saves: Sledge ice hockey, which has been part of the program since 1994, has developed into one of the attractions at the Paralympic Winter Games thanks to many spectacular moments. The game is basically played according to the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF. The most important difference to ice hockey is the equipment: The players move on sleds with runners, a stick in each hand, at the end of which spikes are attached to improve movement.
How was that again with the starting classes?
In para-sport there is the challenge of making competitions as fair and at the same time as unpredictable and one-sided as possible. The aim cannot be that the least impaired athlete wins. On the contrary, it should be ensured that athletic performance decides who wins the medals. Therefore, there are different starting classes specific to the sport. Basically, this is comparable to classifications according to age, gender or weight.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) subdivides into the following disabilities:
• Impairment of muscle strength: such as paralysis, muscle wasting, the consequences of polio and spina bifida.
• Impairment of the passive musculoskeletal system: for example in the case of joint stiffness.
• Missing limbs: such as malformations or amputations.
• Different leg length
• short stature
• Muscle hypertonia, an increase in muscle tension with a reduced ability to stretch the muscle. Occurs as a result of injuries to the central nervous system, such as after a stroke or cerebral aresis.
• Ataxia, a movement coordination disorder that occurs as a result of injuries to the central nervous system, such as those associated with multiple sclerosis, stroke and cerebral palsy.
• Athetosis, ie persistent, involuntary muscle movements.
• Visual impairment
• Intellectual disability that limits the ability to adjust in everyday life.
Who is representing Germany?
Team Germany is small, only 17 starters and five guides are in Beijing. Neither in curling nor in ice hockey is there a German team at the start. One of the most successful athletes is monoskier Anna-Lena Forster, who has already won five Paralympic medals, two of them gold. The 26-year-old is in top form, having recently won four gold medals at the World Championships. Her teammate Andrea Rothfuss is already taking part in her fifth games and already has 13 Paralympic medals at home. In biathlon and cross-country skiing, Anja Wicker is also a promising medal candidate in the sitting class.
The youngest German is the just 15-year-old Linn Kazmeier in the Nordic disciplines. Alexander Ehler is the oldest athlete at the start. The 52-year-old is a cross-country skier and biathlete. The German team is in transition, seven starters are 22 years or younger.
What is changing because of the war in Ukraine?
After some back and forth, Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the competitions in Beijing. After the IPC surprisingly decided on Wednesday that the athletes from these two nations could compete under neutral flags, the association rowed back on Thursday. The international criticism was too great, some member associations had threatened a boycott. The German Disabled Sports Association welcomed the rethinking: “It’s a wonderful turnaround,” said DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher: “We, the athletes, but also most of the National Paralympic Committees have lost an incredible burden.”
The IPC decision is “simply beautiful,” said Beucher. “We didn’t want to understand this decision, that at the same time Ukrainian athletes are worried about their families, who are sitting in air-raid shelters, and they are supposed to compete peacefully here with athletes from the countries that invaded their country,” said Beucher.
And what about Corona?
The virus is rampant, the pandemic continues. There were significant restrictions at the Olympics two weeks ago, and it will be the same at the Paralympics. Everyone involved moves in a bubble that must not be left. Daily PCR tests are mandatory, and those who test positive must be in strict quarantine. There will only be a few spectators, foreigners are not allowed at all.
What about host China?
The criticism of awarding the games to China was huge even during the Olympic Games. She’s not getting any smaller. “For me it is complete madness that the games are taking place in China, where human rights are not respected and it snows three days a year,” said the seven-time Paralympic winner and current ARD expert Anna Schaffelhuber of the German Press Agency. Her resignation in 2019 was also related to the upcoming games in China, she admitted. “There were other candidates, I really wanted to go there again,” she said. “But I knew Beijing was coming and I didn’t want to go there.” Friedhelm Julius Beucher, President of the German Disabled Sports Association, is also critical: “Taking into account the human rights situation, China is a country to which the Olympic and Paralympic Games should not have been awarded.” He emphasizes that the German team is taking part, but must not forget and conceal what is happening to people and, above all, to minorities: “The decision to award the games there is no longer reversible. But those who made them have to put up with being made aware of it.”
In addition, dealing with disabled people in China is still a problem. Accessibility is poor, although some things have improved since the 2008 Paralympics. In addition, there is still a belief among many parents that having disabled children means they are being punished for something bad in a past life. Devaluation shows in the language. The mentally handicapped were often simply dismissed as “idiots” (shazi). For a long time, disabled people were also called “Canfei”: “Disabled and useless.” Today, the not very successful term “canji” is mostly used, as much as “disabled and sick”. Associations for the disabled advocate “Canzhang”, which means something like “incomplete” or simply “disabled”.
Where can you see all of this?
ARD and ZDF share the reporting – but have moved most of it to the Internet. From the opening ceremony on March 4th to March 8th, ZDF will be responsible for the transmission and will mainly show summaries, while ARD will start with the second half of the competition until March 13th. In addition, there are full-length live streams of all decisions with German participation. Some of the decisions and some highlights will be shown within the regular winter sports program.