Winter Paralympics walks tightrope as Russia’s inclusion risks ceremony boycott
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<p>The IPC’s Andrew Parsons tries to ease growing tension as Ukrainian president calls the decision ‘dirty’</p><p>The Paralympic torch left its home in Stoke Mandeville this week and has arrived at the gateway of the Dolomites. The towns of Bolzano and Trento will host “flame festivals” over the weekend to welcome the Paralympic movement and commemorate its progress on the 50th anniversary of the first Winter Games. It will be a joyous, poignant start to what could be a fractio
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Winter Paralympic Games
International multi-sport event for disabled athletes
The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directl...
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Winter Paralympics walks tightrope as Russia’s inclusion risks ceremony boycott The IPC’s Andrew Parsons tries to ease growing tension as Ukrainian president calls the decision ‘dirty’ T he Paralympic torch left its home in Stoke Mandeville this week and has arrived at the gateway of the Dolomites. The towns of Bolzano and Trento will host “flame festivals” over the weekend to welcome the Paralympic movement and commemorate its progress on the 50th anniversary of the first Winter Games. It will be a joyous, poignant start to what could be a fractious fortnight. While the flame is being passed between torch bearers, the leaders of the International Paralympic Committee will be scrambling to contain what increasingly resembles a diplomatic incident. A decision last week to invite 10 Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Winter Paralympics at Milano Cortina has been met with full-throated criticism from across Europe and beyond. Ukraine led with a typically unsparing response from its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy , who called the IPC’s decision “dirty”, “not respectable” and “not European from the point of values”. His criticism has been echoed by other European politicians, including Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, who issued a statement on Tuesday calling for the IPC to reverse their action. The UK’s culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has called it “completely the wrong decision”. The European commissioner for sport, Glenn Micallef, has said he will boycott the opening ceremony of the Games in protest. The focus of frustration at Russian inclusion is now directed at next Friday’s opening ceremony in the Verona Arena, with a growing likelihood it will be marked by an absence of the very athletes who will determine the success of the Games. Ukraine will send no athletes or officials, while the Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland and Finland are also expected to join any boycott. More countries, while not expressly protesting, have also ...
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