The largest ever Winter Paralympics were officially opened last night at the Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Forty-eight different nations, plus a neutral Paralympic athlete’s team consisting of Russian competitors, entered the stadium amid the sounds of traditional Korean percussion instruments.
A total of 567 athletes will take part across nine days of competition making it a record-setting number of attendees.
Snowboarder Owen Pick, 26, led the British team into the arena as flag bearer, his first time at the Games; he lost his leg aged 18 while serving with the British Army in Afghanistan.
Paralympics Team GB has sent a 17-strong group of athletes, though only snowboarders Owen Pick, Ben Moore and James Barnes-Miller, and 2014 gold-medal-winning visually impaired skier Kelly Gallagher and her guide Gary Smith attended yesterday’s ceremony.
“Everything starts with a dream,” International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons said in his opening speech. “Great stories, great achievements, great drama. In a dream anything is possible.
“The journey of an athlete starts with a dream: the dream of competing in sport; of representing your country; of winning a medal and writing your name in history.”
The sports begin on Saturday with downhill skiing, biathlon, wheelchair curling and Para-ice hockey, with 36 medals on offer.
GB’s visually impaired duo of Mille Knight and Menna Fitzpatrick, along with their guides Brett Wild and Jen Kehoe, will hope to be among the downhill medal winners, while Chris Lloyd and James Whitley will race in the men’s event.
British competitor Scott Meenagh will also compete in the 7.5km biathlon and GB’s wheelchair curlers start their campaign against Norway.
