China sees rapid development in winter sports for disabled

BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- China has seen remarkable progress in the development of winter sports for people with disabilities in recent years, said an official with China's Disabled People's Federation.

At a Sunday press conference, Yong Zhijun, deputy director of the federation's department of sports, said that Chinese athletes will compete in all six sports at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics Winter Games. He added that this is a significant improvement from the situation before 2015, when Chinese athletes competed in only two of the six sports.

"Today, the number of Chinese national Paralympic athletes has grown from less than 50 to almost 1,000," said Yong. He noted that the achievements have been made possible by the federation's promotion of winter sports among disabled people throughout the country, as well as by international cooperation and exchanges.

Yong said that by holding a number of national winter sports competitions, China has been able to select athletes for national sports teams. He also noted that since 2016, Chinese Paralympic athletes have participated in multiple international competitions, which further improved their skills.

In terms of developing winter sports for disabled people among the public, Yong said that since 2016, the federation has held the annual "winter sports season for persons with disabilities" for six consecutive years, with the aim of popularizing the sports.

Though the sports season only saw the participation from 14 provincial-level regions when it was first introduced, it has now attracted the active participation of 31 such regions, said Yong, adding that more people with disabilities are becoming interested in winter sports through participating in the sports season.