Russia plans to host its own Paralympics after being kicked out of Beijing 2022 event

Booted from the official Paralympics due to its invasion of Ukraine, Russia is planning to host its own event within days of the Beijing Games ending.

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA – MARCH 03: An Athlete from Team Ukraine skis during an Official Training Session at Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre on March 03, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images for International Paralympic Committee)

Russia has revealed plans to host its own Winter Paralympic Games after the International Paralympic Committee ruled to exclude it and Belarus from competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Organisers plan to host up to 70 athletes across six sports between March 16 and 21 in Khanty-Mansiisk, according to Russian News Agency TASS, three days after the Closing Ceremony in Beijing.

Russia and Belarus athletes and officials were sent home from Beijing on March 6 after the International Paralympic Committee ruled to ban the two nations from competing at the Winter Paralympics.

It came after mounting pressure from rival National Paralympic Committees, with many threatening to boycott the games after the IPC had previously ruled in favour of Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in Beijing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves the stage after speaking at an IOC event.

F1 STAR SACKED AS RUSSIAN-UKRAINE WAR WAGES

Formula 1 team Haas has dropped Russian driver Nikita Mazepin and terminated its contract with its title sponsor due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The decision comes amid the brutal invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed upon Russian sportspeople as a result.

The team also ended its title sponsorship deal with Russian potash producer Uralkali, owned by Mazepin’s father.

“Haas F1 has elected to terminate, with immediate effect, the title partnership of Uralkali, and the driver contract of Nikita Mazepin,” the statement said.

“As with the rest of the Formula 1 community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a swift and peaceful end to the conflict.”

The announcement comes just days after Motorsport UK announced that Russian competitors would not be allowed to race in UK events, effectively ruling Mazepin out of the British Grand Prix.

A replacement driver for Mazepin is expected to be announced next week with the season opening race in Bahrain just a fortnight away.

Just days after Russia declared war on Ukraine, Haas wiped all traces of the Russian flag from its livery and raced with an all-white car at Barcelona testing.

Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi is favourite to fill the vacant seat, though Australia’s Oscar Piastri and Antonio Giovinazzi could also make a play.

The Aussie does not have a drive for the 2022 season, but is curretly a reserve name for Alpine, while Giovinazzi is without a seat having been let go by Alfa Romeo at the end of last season.

Haas has dumped Russian driver Nikita Mazepin. Picture: Rudy Carezzevoli/AFP

Urainian Paralympians reveal harrowing war stories

Harrowing and heroic details of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee’s journey from its war-torn homeland to compete in Beijing have emerged, with stories of athletes queuing for days to exit Kyiv being heard as one member prepares to compete despite losing touch with his family in Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian delegation of 54 arrived in Beijing just days before the first events of the Winter Paralympics are set to commence on Saturday morning, and details slowly emerged of the incredible lengths and sacrifices each member went through to make it to the Games with team insiders claiming it is a “miracle” they’ve made it to the start line.

Para Biathlon skier Vitalii Lukianenko, 43, from Kharkiv has not heard from his wife and daughter. He will compete in Beijing not knowing the safety of his family.

Similarly, cross-country skier Yuliia Batenkova-Bauman’s husband and daughter have been unable to leave Kyiv.

NPC Ukraine press attache Nataliia Harach detailed a harrowing account of her hastened exit from the country, which included grounded flights, bus changes and a journey through Poland, Slovakia, Austria and finally Italy, from where the team flew as one to Beijing on Wednesday night.

Half of the Ukrainian team was due to return from its training base in Italy on February 24, however flights were grounded as Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.

“Suddenly it was the biggest line from Kyiv to the rest of Ukraine, the biggest line,” Harach detailed.

“We spent eight or seven hours to come from Kyiv to Lviv, but some other people, they spent 24, 28, 30 hours. It was the biggest line. You could not move anywhere.

“There were so many cars, so many buses, everyone who wanted to escape from Kyiv, they were there and at this moment, this guy, who had to bring us this document, he was stopped on Zhytomyr because the bridge was broken.

A Ukrainian athlete during an official training session in China.

“We never believed that it can be like this, that we can travel like this and there will be so many problems,” Harach continued.

“Especially me, I was in Lviv and in the morning, we heard a voice that there will be an attack, so we took everything very quickly to put it in the bus and go in our west Ukrainian centre. It’s deep in the Carpathian Mountains.”

The congregation moved over the border into Poland, then Slovakia and Austria before meeting with the team in Milan to fly.

“We came together. We changed clothes, we changed equipment. We put some of the clothes which they will not use on this bus and this bus went back to Ukraine and we are here.

“Everyone is worried. It’s very painful question for them now, what they feel, what they want.

“I met in the morning (with) Grygorii Vovchynskyi, who is the captain of our Paralympic winter team and I saw his eyes. I asked him what happened (and) he told me, ‘I was crying all morning … I feel so much support and so many good words for us. I can’t stop crying’.

Some Ukrainian athletes will compete not knowing whether their families are alive.

Visually Impaired athlete Laroslav Reshetynskyi of Team Ukraine aided by guide Kostiantyn Yaremenko.

“We came (on Wednesday night). It’s such a short time. They need a few hours and then they will rise like a phoenix.”

The Ukraine delegation was overwhelmed with solidarity after arriving safely in Beijing on Wednesday after narrowly escaping bombings to make it to the ski slopes.

“I can say that this is a miracle that we managed to be here at the Paralympic Games,” Ukraine Paralympic committee president Valeriy Sushkevych told reporters.

“For us, it is a matter of principle to be here, it’s a symbol to show that Ukraine is alive.”

Originally published as Russia plans to host its own Paralympics after being kicked out of Beijing 2022 event