The Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will be held from 4 to 13 March 2022. A total of 78 events will be contested across six sports in two disciplines: snow sports (alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon and snowboarding) and ice sports (Para-ice hockey and wheelchair curling).
Beijing hosted the Summer Paralympic Games in 2008, this is their first time ever hosting a Paralympic Winter Games. It will be the first city to have hosted both the summer and winter Paralympic Games.
Kate McLoughlin
Chef de Mission of the 2022 Australian Paralympic Team
Kate McLoughlin is the Chef de Mission of the Australian Team for the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics.
McLoughlin became the first female Chef de Mission to be appointed by Paralympics Australia for Rio 2016 and was highly praised for the performance-driven, inclusive and supportive environment she fostered within the Australian Team.
She was announced as Best Official by the International Paralympic Committee following Rio and was reappointed in 2017 as Chef de Mission for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Beijing 2022 will be the first time Australia has appointed a female Chef de Mission for a Winter Paralympics.
Shuey Rhon Rhon is a Chinese lantern child who exudes positivity. The glow from its heart symbolises the inspiring warmth, friendship, courage, and perseverance of Para-athletes.
The Chinese lantern is a millennia-old cultural symbol associated with harvest, celebration, prosperity and brightness. Red is the most auspicious and festive colour of the country, and is all the more fitting given the Games will coincide with Chinese New Year celebrations in March 2022.
The design on Shuey Rhon Rhon draws from traditional Chinese papercut, Ruyi ornaments, and features doves, Beijing’s iconic Temple of Heaven, and snow to symbolise peace, friendship and happiness.
Shuey has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for snow. The first Rhon in the mascot’s Chinese name means to include or to tolerate, while the second Rhon means to melt or to fuse, and warm. The name expresses the desire for more inclusion for people with an impairment, and more dialogue and understanding between different cultures.
Read more about the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games mascot.
Australia has participated at every Winter Paralympic Games since their inception in 1976.
To date, Australians have won 30 medals at the Winter Paralympics.
The Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games medals are named ‘Tong Xin’.
The centre of the front of the medals is engraved with the logo of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and surrounded by the words ‘Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games’ in English in engraved letters and Braille beads.
The emblem of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games is engraved in the centre on the back of the medals, and the full Chinese name for the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games is engraved around it.
The rings are engraved with 13 points and arcs.
The name of the medal event will be engraved on the outermost ring on the back of the medal.
Source: paralympic.org
Find out more about the Beijing 2022 Paralympic medals.
