Winter Paralympics: All you need to know about the Beijing Games

The build-up to the Beijing Winter Paralympics has been turbulent, with first the coronavirus pandemic and in recent days Russia's invasion of Ukraine casting huge shadows.

But with the Games due to officially open in the Chinese capital on Friday, the athletes now have their chance to take to the ice and snow.

The Games — the 13th edition of a Winter series that began in Ornskoldsvik in Sweden in 1976 — will feature athletes competing for 78 gold medals.

Friday's opening ceremony at the Bird's Nest Stadium will be attended by dignitaries including Chinese president Xi Jinping, the first medals will be awarded on Saturday — day one of competition — and the closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, 13 March.

There has been much focus on the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The IPC committee was criticised when it initially said on Wednesday it would allow the athletes to compete as neutrals.

But less than 24 hours later, the decision was reversed, with the IPC saying the «situation in the athlete villages» was «untenable».

There were also fears the Ukraine delegation would be unable to travel.

However, the team of 20 athletes and nine guides arrived in Beijing on Wednesday. Valeriy Sushkevych, the Ukrainian Paralympic chief, said the team's presence at the Games was a «symbol that Ukraine is alive».

Previously there had been much criticism over the award of both Winter Games to China because of their alleged human rights abuses, particularly around the treatment of Uighur Muslims — a minority group which lives mostly in north-west China.

It led to many countries, including the UK, United States and Canada, declaring a diplomatic