Nine individual flames came together as one to form the Paralympic flame on Wednesday as the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games torch relay began at the Temple of Heaven. Like the Olympic torch relay, the Paralympic torch relay will be an abbreviated affair lasting only three days before it terminates at the National Stadium on Friday.
The nine flames, eight lit in China and one lit at Stoke Mandeville, were coalesced into a single flame when a cauldron was lit during a special ceremony at the Temple of Heaven. Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan then lit the first torch using the unified flame and passed it along to the first torchbearer Chen Jianxin, a wheelchair curler.
Speaking at the special ceremony to begin the torch relay on Wednesday, Cai Qi, President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, stated, “We believe the Paralympic flame will further bring understanding, respect and empathy to the world.”
The relay comes at a trying time for the Olympic and Paralympic Movements as they navigate the ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian athletes will be in Beijing for the Games, though it was ruled Russian and Belarusian athletes would only be allowed to participate at the Paralympic Games as neutral athletes.
Still, the historic nature of the torch relay was not lost on International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons, who commented, “in 2008, the Paralympic flame was lit in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Now this new flame signals the arrival of an historic Games. Beijing is the first ever city to host the summer and winter editions of the Paralympics.”
The relay will now wind its way through the closed-loop, visiting the three competition zones in use for the 2022 Winter Paralympics. A total of 565 torchbearers, with about a fifth of that figure including people with disabilities, are expected to carry the torch over the three days of the relay.
Organizers have teased some of the technology that will be on display during the relay, including an exchange between two torchbearers using mechanical exoskeletons scheduled for Friday.
Xu Zhijun, a deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee, underscored the importance of the Paralympic torch relay to local organizers, stating, “we need to show our inclusiveness and our care and respect for people with disabilities.”
The 2022 Winter Paralympics will begin on Friday, March 4, and continue until the following Sunday, March 13.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
