A festival of humanity that shares friendship and peace even in the midst of the horrors of war has begun. The 13th Beijing Winter Paralympic Games started with the opening ceremony last night (4th) and entered into a ten-day battle.
Reporter Lee Seong-hoon from Beijing.
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A countdown is held on the ground of the Beijing Olympic main stadium, which has been turned into a curling alley, and athletes with disabilities from 46 countries around the world enter the stage of their dreams.
The Ukrainian players who arrived in Beijing after a lot of hard work received a lot of applause, and the Korean team, which consisted of 32 players in 6 sports, entered the 35th with wheelchair curling player Baek Hye-jin as the jockey.
President Parsons of the International Paralympic Committee called for peace with a passionate voice.
[앤드루 파슨스/국제패럴림픽위원회 위원장 : 세계에 지금 벌어지고 있는 사태에 두려움을 느낍니다. 21세기는 전쟁과 증오가 아닌, 대화와 외교의 시대입니다. 평화를!]
As China’s blind Paralympic hero Li Dun, who won four gold medals in track and field, put the torch in a snowflake, just like at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, colorful fireworks lit up the night sky.
Snowflakes containing the torch rose again in the Beijing sky.
Amid the horrors of war, athletes with disabilities begin a festival to share love and hope for humanity.
Our team will have their first match this morning, with alpine skiing players Sangmin Han and Minkyu Hwang.
The wheelchair curling team, which is considered a dark horse due to its rapid growth in skill, will play the first leg of the preliminary round against Latvia.
[고승남/휠체어컬링 국가대표 : 열심히 준비 다 철저하게 해왔고요. 저희 이제 남은 건 경기 밖에 없으니까 많은 응원과 성원 부탁 드리겠습니다.]
Pyeongchang Olympic gold medalist Eui-hyun Shin and first naturalized Paralympic representative Yu-min Yu will compete in the biathlon sprint event.
