Beijing 2022 Paralympics boosts winter parasports in China

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China has seen an increasing number of people with disabilities take part in winter sports after winning the bid to host the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, a Chinese official said Thursday.

Cross-country skiing team members of Luanchuan County Special Education School Sun Jiaxin (1st R), Pei Fuxin(2nd L), Wang Siyu(1st L), Li Yinuo (2nd R) and Liu Jiaohan (3rd R) pose at the Funiu Mountains Ski Resort in Luanchuan County, central China's Henan Province, Nov. 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Li An)

Despite a late start, the country's winter sports for people with disabilities have quickly caught up, with the Winter Paralympics bringing about major opportunities, Wang Meimei, vice president of the executive board of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, said at a press conference on the newly released white paper titled "China's Parasports: Progress and the Protection of Rights."

From 2015 to 2021, the number of Winter Paralympic athletes grew from fewer than 50 to nearly 1,000, Wang noted.

Efforts have also been made in developing ice and snow sports for disabled people including organizing "winter sports season for people with disabilities" for six consecutive years and compiling a handbook to help such people take part in winter sports.

The white paper, the first ever on parasports in China, was published Thursday.

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