Opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games marked by the presence of the flags of Russia and Belarus.
A Russia is back this Friday officially at olympic movement when parading with its flag during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games – and was booed by the public.
Four members of the Russian delegation participated in the parade of athletes in the Verona arena amid whistles from spectators, shortly after the Russian delegation had paraded. Belarus, also returning to the Paralympic movement.
Not totally, 10 athletes These two countries received an invitation to participate in the Games under their flag and anthem, something unprecedented since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which had the support of Belarus.
Due to a mega scandal doping State-sponsored, Russia had already been punished for the Olympic and Paralympic movements after the Sochi Winter Games, which it organized in 2014.
This scandal, and the tense environment caused by the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran, several countries decided boycott the opening ceremony.
One of the absent nations was Ukraine, opposed to the reintegration of Russia and Belarus; despite not having sent athletes, there was applause in the stands when the country was announced.
The flag of Iran he was absent because the only athlete who would compete for the country, Paralympic distance runner Aboulfazl Khatibi, had to withdraw just hours before the opening ceremony, after failing to reach Italy safely due to the intensifying conflict in the Middle East.
According to the International Paralympic Committee, six other nations were not at the ceremony for political reasons: Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania.
Of the more than 600 athletes from 55 countries who will participate in these Games, only around 45 participated in the opening ceremony of the event, which will feature 79 races in six disciplines.
As it is one of the most decentralized Games of all time, with competitions and venues spread across different regions of Italy, many athletes were unable to attend.
The Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, officially started the Milan-Cortina Games, which run until the 15th, and which mark Portugal’s debut in winter Paralympic competitions, in which the snowboarder will participate Diogo Carmona.
