IPC president condemns Ukraine war at Winter Paralympics opening ceremony

International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons gave one of the most political speeches at an Olympics and Paralympics opening ceremony for decades, as he opened the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics saying: “I want – I must – begin with a message of peace as the leader of our organisation. I am horrified at what is taking place in the world right now. The 21st century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hate.”

Throwing away decades of tradition of only making guarded comments at such events, Parsons continued: “The Olympic Truce for peace during the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a UN resolution. It must be respected and observed, not violated. At the IPC we aspire to a better and more inclusive growth, free from discrimination, free from hate, free from ignorance, and free from conflict.” He finished his speech by almost bellowing the word “Peace”.

In 2014 in Sochi, the Ukrainian Winter Paralympics team had staged a symbolic protest, sending only one athlete to the opening ceremony to represent them as Russian troops invaded the Crimean peninsula. Eight years later, with their country again under attack from Russia, the scene was very different. Maksym Yarovyi carried in his nation’s flag ahead of a full delegation, whose arrival in China had been fraught, while the Russian delegation announced that they would be leaving China rather than filing an immediate legal appeal over their expulsion.

Head of the Ukrainian delegation, Valerii Sushkevych, told a news conference on the eve of the Games: “It’s a miracle that we have made it to the Paralympics. We overcame a lot of barriers on the way.” He himself slept on the floor of a bus during the last two days of their journey through Europe.

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