The 2022 Beijing Paralympics Have Officially Begun!
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The 2022 Paralympics began Friday on a bittersweet note, with athletes poised to compete for gold for their countries, even as ongoing global crises have reshaped many aspects of the Winter Games.
The Opening Ceremony kicked off at 8 p.m. local time in Beijing with the traditional Parade of Nations.
The festivities began at the Beijing National Stadium (aka the "Bird's Nest") as China's president Xi Jinping and International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons observed the raising of the Chinese flag and national anthem.
During the Parade of Nations, athletes entered along the LED-enabled floor, which rotated through some impressive projections. Amid conflict in Ukraine, the country's athletes arrived safely and received an uproar of support as they paraded into the stadium, led by flag-bearer Maksym Yarovi.
In front of about 30,000 attendees, Parsons gave a powerful speech, saying, "Athletes from 46 nations will compete with each other, not against each other. They will showcase the best of humanity."
"Tonight, the Paralympic Movement calls on world authorities to come together, as athletes do, and promote peace, understanding and inclusion," he added.
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Following the speech, Jinping declared the Games officially open as fireworks exploded over the stadium.
Among nearly 50 nations competing in this year's Paralympics, two countries were conspicuously absent — on Thursday, athletes from Russia and Belarus learned that they were banned from competing at the Games amid their countries' participation in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The International Paralympic Committee reversed an earlier decision, which would have permitted Russian and Belarusian competitors to compete as long as they did not wear any flags or other national symbols, just one day before the Games began. As a result, 71 Russian and 12 Belarusian athletes were reportedly sent home from Beijing.
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IPC President Andrew Parsons said the organization did not anticipate the threat of a boycott of the Games after initially allowing athletes from the countries to compete without any flags or other national symbols, according to USA Today.
"It was a very rapid escalation which we did not think was going to happen," Parsons said on Thursday, per the outlet. "We did not think that entire delegations, or even teams within delegations, will withdraw, will boycott, will not participate."
He later added, "No one is happy with the decision [to send athletes home] but certainly this is the best decision for the Paralympic Games to go ahead."
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Russia's attack on Ukraine continues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
Details of the fighting change by the day, but hundreds of civilians have already been reported dead or wounded, including children. More than a million Ukrainians have also fled, according to the United Nations.
The invasion, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has drawn condemnation around the world and increasingly severe economic sanctions against Russia. With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance.
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has also been a top concern surrounding the 2022 Paralympics. Though many countries are seeing a large decrease in cases, other regions are experiencing spikes.
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The day before the Opening Ceremony, authorities said Hong Kong had recorded a new daily record of 56,827 new infections and 144 deaths, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, New Zealand reported 23,194 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to its government dashboard.
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Some Paralympians are at an increased risk for severe illness should they catch COVID-19, as some conditions often come with underlying health problems. One official from the Japan Para-Ski Federation expressed concern for such Paralympic athletes, according to Japan's Kyodo News.
"We have to be careful because the impact of COVID-19 on disabled people remains unknown," the official said, per the outlet. "I'm worried because there are athletes with pre-existing medical conditions."
To learn more about all the Paralympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.org and tune in to NBC to watch each day's events through March 13.
