Full Ukraine team will travel to Beijing for Winter Paralympics, IPC confirms

The full Ukrainian team will be travelling to China to compete in the Winter Paralympic Games despite the invasion of the country by Russia.

The International Paralympic Committee tweeted on Tuesday that Ukraine’s team, made up of 20 athletes and nine guides, would be heading to Beijing.

The IPC tweet linked to a Ukrainian media article about the team, which mentioned athletes would travel to China from different locations in Ukraine. The athletes will compete in two sports – biathlon and cross-country skiing – the article stated.

The IPC is meeting on Wednesday to discuss the participation of Russian athletes in the Games, which officially open on Friday.

The International Olympic Committee’s executive board recommended on Monday that international sports federations should exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes, teams and officials from international competitions wherever possible.

Russian athletes were already set to compete in Beijing under the Russian Paralympic Committee banner as part of earlier sanctions against the country for state-sponsored doping.

Should the IPC opt to exclude Russian athletes, it will be a further step towards isolating the country from the international sports community over the actions of its government.

The British Paralympic Association issued a statement on Monday saying it could not see how allowing Russian or Belarusian athletes to compete in Beijing was “compatible with the objectives of the Paralympic movement”.

Ukrainian athletes wrote an open letter to the IOC and the IPC on Sunday calling for Russia and Belarus to be banned from international sport.

FIFA and UEFA have banned Russian teams and clubs from all their competitions until further notice, ruling them out of the men’s