By Takaki Tominaga,
The Beijing Paralympics opened Friday night at the Chinese capital's National Stadium with the ongoing war in Ukraine casting a shadow over the world's largest winter sports event for athletes with disabilities.
Athletes from the Russian Paralympic Committee and Belarus were excluded from the games after tensions escalated in the games' villages ahead of the opening ceremony, with many athletes and teams refusing to take the field of play alongside athletes from aggressor states after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, with the help of Belarus.
The International Paralympic Committee said Thursday it will decline athlete entries from Russia and Belarus, doing a backflip on its previous decision to allow them to compete as neutrals under the Paralympic flag.
Participating athletes wearing face masks entered the stadium with the coronavirus pandemic still remaining a major concern in the Chinese capital and elsewhere.
Ukraine's team entered to cheers and applause across the stadium. The delegation went through a long and difficult journey to get here, some from a training camp in Italy while others having to cross Ukraine's borders.
Beijing is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, with the stadium known as the "Bird's Nest" hosting the opening ceremonies on each occasion, but not the first to see Russia breach the Olympic Truce.
Russia invaded Georgia during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine around the time of the Sochi Paralympics held in Russia in 2014. The Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine is its third breach of the truce.
In condemning the crisis in Ukraine without mentioning any names of countries, IPC President Andrew Parsons said, "The 21st century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hate."
"The Olympic Truce for peace during the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a U.N. Resolution adopted by consensus by 193 Member States at the 76th U.N. General Assembly. It must be respected and observed not violated," he said.
For emphasis, Parsons shouted "Peace" at the conclusion of his speech.
Following the introduction by Parsons, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, "I declare open the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games."
A video of the WeThe15 campaign, launched ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games, was also shown in the ceremony to raise the visibility, accessibility, and inclusion of the world's 1.2 billion people with disabilities who account for 15 percent of the global population.
The creative side of the ceremony was directed by artistic director Zhang Yimou, a renowned Chinese filmmaker, who also orchestrated the opening ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics.
During the next nine days, more than 560 disabled athletes from 46 countries and regions are expected to take part in 78 medal events across six sports during the Winter Games through March 13.
The sport will be contested across the three competition zones in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou within a strict "closed loop" bubble, which separates people involved with the games from the general public to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Japan national team, featuring 29 athletes, will compete in four sports -- Alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, and snowboarding -- while it will not compete in sled hockey and wheelchair curling.
Among the 29, standing cross-country skier Taiki Kawayoke, a medal hopeful in men's classical event, carried the national flag for the Japanese team.
Compatriot Yoshihiro Nitta, the 41-year-old Pyeongchang Paralympic gold medalist in the middle distance classical standing, and Kawayoke, 21, will be in the mix of the medal hunt in the cross-country skiing.
"I am focused on delivering my best performance," Nitta said prior to the opening of the games.
Sit skier Momoka Muraoka, 25, who won five medals including one gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics, is expected to again bring a haul of medals for Japan in Beijing, where she will stare down a stiff challenge from German rival Anna-Lena Forster in Alpine skiing.
"I will ski with full force and smile through the final day of competition," said Muraoka, who is also the captain of the Japanese Paralympic team.
For snowboard, Daichi Oguri, 41, Masataka Oiwane, 41, and several others are believed to have a good chance to grab medals.
Keiichi Sato, 42, and Momoko Dekijima, 47, are expected to be in the medal hunt in biathlon.
"I believe in the potential of our athletes. We will prepare an environment where athletes can deliver their best performances based on teamwork and adaptability," said Japan's Chef de Mission Junichi Kawai prior to the opening ceremony.
Countries like the United States, Britain and Japan have chosen not to send official government representatives to China as part of a stand their countries have taken in protest at the host nation's human rights abuses, particularly against the Uyghur Muslim population in the country's northwestern Xinjiang region.
Related coverage:
Russia attack on Ukraine nuclear plant spurs fear, fighting continues
IPC to exclude Russian, Belarusian athletes from Beijing Paralympics
Paralympians voice support for Ukraine ahead of 2022 Games
