Monthly review: March 2017

Many of the winter sports wrapped up, while this was just the beginning of summer sports. 31 Mar 2017

Australian Joany Badenhorst wins the women’s SB-LL2 snowboard-cross World Cup globe.

ⒸPOCOG / Seokyong Lee

By IPC

A busy month of Para sport included two World Championships; World Cup finals in winter sports; and an exciting return of sporting competition to the 2016 Paralympic hosts nation.

UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships

The USA’s cycling track star Joseph Berenyi left with three world gold medals, completing his career collection of a world title in every event.

World Wheelchair Curling Championship

New world champions were crowned as Norway stopped Russia* from a third straight gold medal.

Youth Parapan American Games

The fourth Youth Parapans came to a close in Sao Paulo, after six days of sporting competition saw more than 800 athletes from 19 countries compete over 12 sports.

Alpine Skiing World Cups

The season concluded with two World Cups in Asia, including the PyeongChang 2018 Test Event. Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova with guide Natalia Subtrova was among those to cap a successful season with three crystal globes.

Snowboard World Cup finals

Overall World Cup winners, as well as banked slalom and snowboard-cross title winners were decided as the season finale was held at the Test Event in PyeongChang. The USA’s SB-UL rider Mike Minor was among those to conclude an outstanding season.

Nordic Skiing World Cups

The season’s third World Cup took place in PyeongChang, South Korea, also acting at the Test Event. Competition then moved to Sapporo, Japan, for the World Cup Finals. Germany’s Martin Fleig and Ukraine’s Iurii Utkin finished their season in fine style.

World Para Athletics Grand Prix

Algerian Para athletes dominated the first Grand Prix of the season, in particular the Algerian women claiming four out of the seven world records.

2017 World Para Swimming World Series

The season started off with the World Series in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was Norway’s four-time Paralympic champion Sarah Louise Rung among those to show strong form ahead of the 2017 World Championships this summer.

*Editor’s note: The International Paralympic Committee suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee on 7 August for its inability to fulfil its IPC membership responsibilities and obligations, in particular its obligation to comply with the IPC Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code (to which it is also a signatory). As a result of the suspension, Russian athletes cannot enter IPC sanctioned events or competitions, including the Paralympic Games.