The 20th National Paralympic Winter Sports Festival, the largest winter sports festival in Korea, held an opening ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Alpensia Convention Center on the 10th and began a four-day journey.

The Winter Sports Festival, which is in its 20th year this year, will be participated by 1,025 people, the largest ever. Until the 13th, seven events will be held in Gangwon-do, including Pyeongchang, Gangneung, Hoengseong, and Chuncheon.

This competition is the first regular operation in four years and the first ‘mask free’ competition held since the government lifted the mandatory wearing of indoor masks.

At the opening ceremony, the president of the Korean Paralympic Committee, Jeong Jin-wan, said, “Starting with 150 participants in 2004, the Winter Sports Festival, which celebrated its 20th this year, has been reborn as the largest winter sports festival with 1,025 athletes participating.” We will (continue to) strive to improve our athletic performance and create an environment where each individual can achieve their goals,” he said in his opening remarks.

Cho Yong-man, 2nd Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “We will build a training infrastructure for winter events in preparation for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games and strive to foster excellent athletes.” We will implement relevant policies so that it can become the pivot that leads to integration.”

The mixed wheelchair curling duo match, which became an official event for the first time in this competition, ended with Gangwon’s first victory토토사이트. Gangwon Yang Hee-tae and Cho Eun-gun defeated Gyeongnam Jeong Tae-young and Cho Min-gyeong after a close match that went to the 9th end.

The final match drew a lot of attention as the four-member national team members Yang Hee-tae and Jo Eun-gun faced off against the two-member national team member Jung Tae-young and Cho Min-kyung.

In the snowboarding event held at Welli Hilli Park, Lee Je-hyeok (Seoul) took first place in both the snowboard cross and giant slalom, earning two gold medals.

In the men’s biathlon 4.5km sitting event, Shin Eui-hyeon (Sejong), the gold medalist at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games, won the gold medal, successfully hunting for the gold medal three times in a row.

In the women’s 4.5km sitting event, Seoul’s Yoonji Kim, who won the Rookie of the Year award at the last Winter Sports Festival, and in the men’s 4.5km standing event, Kim Tae-hyeon of Seoul won the gold medal.

In the men’s biathlon 4.5km visual event, Gyeonggi-do’s Kim Min-young and Kwak Han-sol (guide) won the gold medal.

Korea Fruit and Vegetables, a sponsor of the Korea Sports Association for the Disabled, will support cafe trucks at the stadium for each event from this day to the 12th. 20 types of beverages including coffee will be provided free of charge to the players, staff, coaches and spectators visiting the stadium.

On the 11th, the second day of the competition, biathlon, ice hockey, wheelchair curling, and ice (short track) events will be held. The game schedule and results can be found on the official website of the tournament