Ukrainian athletes en route to Beijing for Winter Paralympics

Ukrainian athletes are on their way to Beijing to compete at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. The participation of Ukraine was in doubt after Russia invaded the country, but efforts to get the team to Beijing seem near to paying off.

Natalia Garach, head of press services for the National Committee for Sports for the Disabled of Ukraine, told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, “Part of the team is in one place, part is in another. I hope that today we will unite and get to the airport and go to Beijing together.”

She added, “the team is not in Ukraine. We will not tell where we are. When we arrive in Beijing, we will tell you how we got there. I hope that tomorrow, March 2, we will be in Beijing.”

Garach also confirmed the size of the Ukrainian delegation, stating, “the team is going in full force as we planned. On the eve of the Paralympic Games, the team won 19 licenses. One license was given to us as a ‘white card’ to the youngest athlete Seraphim Dragun. There are nine more guides.”

Craig Spence, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Chief Brand and Communications Officer, later confirmed the Ukrainian delegation were en route to Beijing. He tweeted a photo of the team with the message, “Ukraine National Paralympic Committee are on their way to the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.”

Spence also stated it was an “epic operation by many parties” to get the Ukrainian delegation to Beijing in time for the Paralympics.

IPC President Andrew Parsons had earlier categorized it as a “mammoth challenge” to get Ukrainian athletes to Beijing after Russia invaded the Eastern European nation. He appealed to nations to observe and keep the Olympic Truce, which ends seven days after the Paralympics close.

He added, “we have seen at the Olympic Winter Games, and we will see again at the Paralympic Winter Games, athletes from different nations competing with each other, not against each other.”

“Sport is a tremendous platform to showcase to the world what can be achieved when people of all nations come together in peace and solidarity. The world must be a place for sharing, not for dividing. I hope and pray world leaders take heed of this.”

While the participation of the Ukrainian delegation seems more likely than it did a few days ago, division may be inevitable. Calls to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Winter Paralympics continue to grow.

Friedhelm Julius Beucher, President of National Paralympic Committee Germany, stated, “I cannot and do not want to imagine that Russia - not as a nation, but as a Russian Paralympic Committee - will move into the stadium at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics and then compete with Ukrainian athletes.”

He added, “this attack that violates international law, this breach of promises cannot leave us in a state of faintness. Signs are needed in all areas of society to end the war as quickly as possible. You can’t just go back to business as usual when something like that doesn’t seem possible. An Olympic truce that’s also a Paralympic truce isn’t worth the paper if you break such agreements and go unpunished.”

The British Paralympic Association, Canadian Paralympic Committee, and United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee have also called for athletes from Russia and Belarus to be barred from competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

The Canadian Paralympic Committee has even gone a step further to call for a special assembly of IPC members so that a discussion centered on revoking the memberships of Russia and Belarus can be held.

The IPC has not yet indicated that such a meeting will take place, but it has been widely reported that the organization will meet on Wednesday to discuss the participation of Russia and Belarus at the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

The 2022 Winter Paralympics are due to begin in just three days. They will run until March 13.