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Day 9: Paralympic Winter Games preview
The final day of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter will be highlighted by the Para Ice Hockey final and Closing Ceremony Pedersen aiming for golden quad, Aigner, Bauchet eye trio in Para Alpine Skiing Defending champions Ukraine and France target relay success 13 Mar 2022
The game everyone has been waiting for will be one of the main highlights of the final day of action at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games on Sunday (13 March), as the USA and Canada reignite their rivalry for Para Ice Hockey gold.
Para Alpine Skiing will wrap-up with the women’s slalom as well as the mixed and open relays in Para Cross-Country Skiing.
Para Ice Hockey
Canada and the USA will once again play for the title when the two teams meet at the National Indoor Stadium, as they did at PyeongChang 2018.
Four years ago Canadian hearts were broken in overtime. Having levelled the score, US forward Declan Farmer equalised with 37 seconds left on the clock denying Canada their second Paralympic gold. Farmer is once again one of the USA's key player at this edition, leading the rankings with five goals and 10 assists.
Canada are five-time medallists and have only ever finished off the podium once, showing they should not be underestimated.
At Beijing 2022 the Canadians were convincing in the first semi-final game against South Korea defeating the Asian team by 11-0. USA beat China by the same score in their semi.
In their Group A game earlier in the competition, the USA beat Canada 5-0. The final will surely be a fascinating clash.
Para Alpine Skiing
New Zealand’s Adam Hall is searching for his third men’s slalom Paralympic title having won at Vancouver 2010 and reclaiming top spot at PyeongChang 2018.
But France’s Arthur Bauchet has made his presence known in recent seasons, and at Beijing 2022, with two golds so far. He will aim to go one better than his silver from four years ago as the reigning world champion.
Norway’s Jesper Pedersen dominated the men’s sitting at the World Championships in January, leaving with medals from all disciplines including gold in the slalom. This week he has so far topped the podium in all events and is in the hunt for the ultimate prize - a clean sweep of golds.
Austria’s Johannes Aigner, a world champion at the age of 16 with guide Matteo Fleischmann, will go head-to-head with defending title holder Giacomo Bertagnolli and guide Andrea Ravelli of Italy in the men’s vision impaired.
Aigner is another skier hoping to leave the Paralympics with a golden trio having already taken wins in the downhill and giant slalom.
Para Cross-Country Skiing
Para Cross-Country Skiing will conclude with the open and mixed relays on Sunday.
The defending champions from both events - France and Ukraine - have both had strong showings this week with their skiers amassing a respective six and two medals in the sport.
In the mixed, Ukraine have no less than three Paralympic medallists in their starting line-up. Oleksandra Kononova will compete fresh from her win in the women's middle distance standing from Saturday, her first gold since Vancouver 2010. Iryna Bui also finished that event with bronze. Meanwhile Taras Rad has made it onto the podium three times in Para Biathlon.
The Canadians are also fielding a stacked team hoping to improve on their silver medal from PyeongChang 2018. Their quad hold a combined five medals between them, headlined by Natalia Wilkie who enters as the new sprint and long distance Paralympic champion.
France will look towards Beijing 2022 men's standing sprint gold medallist Benjamin Daviet and Anthony Chalencon in a bid to retain their title in the open relay.
Canada can now count the joint most decorated male Winter Paralympian amongst their number. Brian McKeever will team-up with Wilkie to create a formidable combination.
