Embracing diversity and difference, PyeongChang Winter Paralymics comes to an end

PyeongChang, March 19: Just like Olympics, Paralympics has also garnered a lot of attention from the audience and kept the people glued to their seats. The Paralympic event saw tremendous efforts of the athletes showcasing their talent breaking the barriers. The 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic Winter Games came to a close on Sunday with a celebration of disabled athletes who broke down barriers during the 10-day competition.

 

The closing ceremony at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, titled "We Move the World," brought para athletes together for one last time in PyeongChang. The closing ceremony featured performances by physical impairments in the art segment expressing hope for the world to embrace the diversity and the difference among the people.

PyeongChang along with the sub-host cities of Gangneung and Jeongseon, hosted 567 athletes from 49 countries creating both records for Winter Paralympics. The athletes competed for 80 gold medals, also created a record for the multi-winter sports event for the disabled.

Apart from this the ceremony observed the New Zealand's para-alpine skier Adam Hall and Finland's para-Nordic skier Sini Pyy being honoured with the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.

The Paralympic flag was later handed over to the Beijing which is the next host of the Winter Paralympics in the year 2022.

The PyeongChang Paralympics were the most successful Winter Paralympics in terms of ticket sales, with more than 343,000 tickets sold. The previous record had been 316,200 tickets sold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics.

The United States topped the Winter Paralympic Games for the first time since Albertville 1992 thanks to 13 gold, 15 silver and eight bronze medals.

The Neutral Paralympic Athletes from Russia was second with eight gold, 10 silver and six bronze medals. The Russians were not allowed to compete under their national flag due to a state-sponsored doping scandal.