Pyeongchang Paralympics Closing Ceremony

The Pyeongchang Paralympics came to an end with a superb closing ceremony which opened with an array of Bandabi mascots at centre stage counting down to a fireworks display.

A montage of skiing, snowboarding, curling and ice hockey led to the introduction of the officials from Korea and the IPC. The Korean flag was araded into the arena by a number of the host countries athletes.

The entertainment began with a superb signing performance before a rock/jazz rendition accompanied by hundreds of dancers. Following this was an upbeat dance track to greet the entrance of the athletes, which incuded golden girls Menna Fitzpatrick and Jen Kehoe carrying the flag for ParalympicsGB. 

A presentation followed to Dr Whang Youn Dai for her amazing contribution to Paralympic sport by former winners of the award which bears her name, each Paralympics sees two atheltes awarded and this year saw Adam Hall (NZL) and Sini Pyy (FIN).

Next up was an inspirational ballet performance at centre stage with the ballerina soon accompanied by several dancers to a background of string music with a 'Bond-esque' tone which was followed by a stunning operatic solo.

The Paralympic flag was lowered before centre stage saw a clever mix of dance and colour with able and disabled dancers promoting the next Paralympics of Beijing 2022. The speeches from the Korean delegate and IPC president saw the games officially closed.

The Paralympic flame was extinguished ahead of a stint from Korean singer Ailee as she lit up the stadium with a stunning party-style performance which literally saw the stadium bouncing. 

A superb way to close the 2018 Winter Olympic/Paralympic posts, the blog will go into the usual two year hiatus before resuming with the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics/Paralympics.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Days Eight and Nine

Day Eight saw a huge amount of medal events and the review will start with Alpine Skiing, the Men's Slalom - Visually Impaired saw Italian duo Giacomo Bertagnolli and his guide Fabrizio Casal finish ahead of Jakub Krako and his guide Branislav Brozman (SVK) who secured silver and Valeri Redkozubov and his guide Evgeny Geroev (NPA) who collected bronze.  The Men's Slalom- Standing saw gold won by New Zealand's Adam Hall as he took the title ahead of Arthur Bauchet (FRA) who collected silver and Jamie Stanton (USA) who claimed bronze. The Men's Slalom - Sitting was won by Dino Sokolovic as he took the gold ahead of Tyler Walker (USA) and Frederic Francois (FRA) who collected silver and bronze. 

Over in Cross-Country Skiing, the Men's 10km Classic, Visually Impaired was won by Canadian's Brian McKeever and his guide Graham Nishikawa while Jake Adicoff and his guide Sawyer Kesselheim (USA) secured silver and Yury Holub and his guide Dzmitry Budzilovich (BLR) claimed bronze. The Women's 7.5km Classic - Visually Impaired saw gold won by Sviatlana Sakhanenka and her guide Raman Yashchanka (BLR) as they finished ahead of Mikhalina Lysova and her guide Alexey Ivanov (NPA) who secured silver while Carina Edlinger and her guide Julian Edlinger (AUT) earned bronze.

The Men's 10km Classic-Standing saw gold won by Yoshihiro Nitta (JPN) with Grygorii Vovchynskyi (UKR) sealing silver and Mark Arendz (CAN) taking bronze. A 1st/3rd for Canada in the Women's 7.5km Standing as Natalie Wilkie won gold and Emily Young battled for bronze behind Ekaterina Rumyantseva (NPA) who collected silver. Gold for host nation South Korea as Sin Eui Hyun won the Men's 7.5km - Sitting ahead of Daniel Cnossen (USA) who claimed silver and Maksym Yarovyi (UKR) who earned bronze. The Women's 5km - Sitting saw another gold of the games for Oksana Masters (USA) as she finished ahead of Andrea Eskau (GER) who sealed silver and Marta Zainullina (NPA) who collected bronze.

The first medal of the games in Para Hockey went to the hosts South Korea as they defeated Italy to claim the bronze medal while in Wheelchair Curling, South Korea missed out on a medal as they lost 5-3 to Canada who took the bronze. The gold medal match saw a closely run battle as China edged a 6-5 win over Norway who took the silver. 

Day Nine

An historic day for ParalympicsGB as the duo of Menna Fitzpatrick and guide Jen Kehoe became GB's most decorated Winter Paralympians as they took gold in the Women's Slalom - Visually Impaired, there was more joy as compatriots Millie Knight and guide Brett Wild claimed bronze while Henrieta Farkasova and guide Natalia Subrtova (SVK) collected silver. 

Gold for Marie Bochet (FRA) in the Women's Slalom - Standing as she finished ahead of Mollie Jepsen (CAN) who secured silver and Andrea Rothfuss (GER) who earned bronze. The Women's Slalom -Sitting saw gold for Anna-Lena Forster (GER) with Momoka Muroka (JPN) claiming silver and Heike Eder (AUT) collecting bronze. Over in Cross-Country Skiing, gold for Ukraine in the 4x2.5km Mixed Relay with Canada taking silver and Germany collecting bronze. The 4x2.5km Open Relay saw France take gold ahead of Norway and Canada who collected silver and bronze. 

A superb Para Hockey final saw a narrow 2-1 win for USA as they took gold leaving Canada to collect silver.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Days Four-Seven

Day Four saw success for ParalympicsGB as Menna Fitpatrick and her guide Jen Kehoe collected silver in the Women's Super Combined Slalom - Visually Impaired with compatriots Millie Knight (Guide- Brett Wild) and Kelly Gallagher (Guide- Gary Smith) placing fourth and seventh. Gold went to Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) and her guide Natalia Subrtova and bronze to Melissa Perrine (AUS) and her guide Christian Geiger.

The Men's event saw Miroslav Haraus (SVK) and his guide Maros Hudik taking gold ahead of Yon Santacana Maiztegui (ESP) and his guide Miguel Galindo Garces while Valerii Redkozubov (NPA) and his guide Evgeny Geroev collected bronze.  The Women's Super Combined Slalom - Standing saw gold and bronze for Canadian duo Mollie Jepsen and Alana Ramsey with Andrea Rothfuss (GER) securing silver.

The Men's event saw gold for the Neutral Paralympics Athletes as Aleksei Bugaev won ahead of Arthur Bauchet (FRA) who claimed silver and Adam Hall (AUS) who earned bronze. A 1-2 for Germany in the Women's Super Combined Slalom-Sitting with Anna-Lena Forster taking gold and Anna Schaffelhuber securing silver, bronze went to Momoka Muraoka (JPN).

The Men's event saw Jeroen Kampschreur (NED) winning gold ahead of Frederic Francois (FRA) who secured silver and Jesper Pedersen (NOR) who earned bronze. Over in Biathlon, gold for Ukrainian duo Oksana Shyshkova and her guide Vitaly Kazakov in the Women's 10km - Visually Impaired ahead of silver for Mikhakina Lysova (NPA) and her guide Alexey Ivanov while Clara Klug (GER) and her guide Martin Hartl claimed bronze.

The Men's 12.5km - Visually Impaired saw Yury Holub (BLR) and his guide Dzmitry Budzilovich taking gold ahead of a 2/3 for Ukraine with Oleksandr Kazik and his guide Sergiy Kucheryaviy collecting silver while Iurii Utkin and his guide Ruslan Perekhoda earning bronze. Double joy for Neutral Paralympic Athletes as the duo of Marta Zainullina and Irina Guliaeva claimed silver and bronze as Andrea Eskau (GER) won gold.

The Men's 12.5km - Sitting saw gold claimed by Taras Rad (UKR) while Daniel Cnossen and Andrew Soule collected silver and bronze for USA. A 1-2 for the Neutral Paralympic Athletes in the Women's 10km - Standing as Ekaterina Rumyantseva and Anna Milenina won gold and silver with Liudmyla Liashenko (UKR) claiming bronze. The Men's 12.5km Standing saw gold won by Benjamin Daviet (FRA) with Ihor Reptyukh (UKR) securing silver and Mark Arendz (CAN) collecting bronze.

Day Five

Another successful day for ParalympicsGB as Menna Fitpatrick and her guide Jen Kehoe collected silver in the Women's Giant Slalom - Visually Impaired with compatriots Kelly Gallagher (Guide- Gary Smith) and Millie Knight (Guide- Brett Wild) placing fifth and seventh. Gold went to Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) and her guide Natalia Subrtova and bronze to Melissa Perrine (AUS) and her guide Christian Geiger. The Men's event saw gold won by Italian duo Giacomo Bertagnolli and his guide Fabrizio Casal while Jakub Krako and his guide Branislav Brozman (SVK) collected silver with Mac Marcoux and his guide Jack Leitch (CAN) earned bronze. 

The Women's Giant Slalom - Standing saw gold won by Marie Bochet (FRA) with Andrea Rothfuss (GER) securing silver and Mollie Jepsen (CAN) collecting bronze. The Men's event saw gold won by Theo Gmur (SUI) with Aleksei Bugaev (NPA) collecting silver and Alexis Guimond (CAN) earning bronze.  Gold for Japan's Momoka Muraoka in the Women's Giant Slalom- Sitting, Linda Van Impelen (NED) claimed silver while Claudia Loersch (CAN) took bronze.

The Men's event saw Jesper Pedersen (NOR) win gold ahead of Tyler Walker (USA) and Igor Sikorski (POL). 

Over in Cross Country Skiing, a 1st/3rd for USA in the Men's 1.1km Sprint -Sitting as Andrew Soule won gold and Daniel Cnossen claiming bronze sandwiching a silver for Dzmitry Loban (BLR). The Women's event saw gold also go to the USA as Oksana Masters won ahead of Andrea Eskau (GER) who claimed silver and Marta Zainullina (NPA) who earned bronze. Four medals were awarded in the Men's 1.5km Sprint Classic - Standing as Alexandr Kolyadin (KAZ) won gold ahead of Yoshihiro Nitta (JPN) who secured silver while Ilkka Tuomisto (FIN) and Mark Arendz (CAN) shared bronze. 

The Women's event saw gold for Anna Milenina (NPA) as she finished ahead of Vilde Nilsen (NOR) and Natalie Wilkie (CAN) who claimed bronze. The Men's 1.5km Sprint Classic - Visually Impaired saw gold won by Brian McKeever (CAN) ahead of Zebastian Modin (SWE) who claimed silver and Eirik Bye and his guide Arvid Nelson (NOR) who earned bronze. The Women's event saw gold won by Sviatlana Sakhanenka (BLR) as she finished ahead of Mikhalina Lysova (NPA) who secured silver and Oksana Shyshkova (UKR) who collected bronze.

Days Six/Seven

There were no medal events on day six but day seven made up for the gap with a raft of medals won beginning with the Women's 12.5km -Sitting as Andrea Eskau (GER) won gold ahead of Oksana Masters (USA) who secured silver and Lidziya Hrafeyeva (BLR) who earned bronze. The Men's 15km - Sitting also saw gold go to Germany as Martin Fleig finished ahead of Daniel Cnossen (USA) and Colin Cameron (CAN) who took silver and bronze. A 1-2 for NPA in the Women's 12.5km - Standing  as Anna Milenina and Ekaterina Rumyantseva  won gold and silver ahead of Brittany Hudak (CAN ) who claimed bronze. The Men's 15km - Standing saw Mark Arendz (CAN) win gold ahead of Benjamin Daviet (FRA) who secured silver and Nils-Erik Ulset (NOR) who collected bronze.

Another gold for NPA came in the Women's 12.5km - Visually Impaired as Mikhalina Lysova and her guide Alexey Ivanov finished ahead of Oksana Shyshkova and her guide Vitaly Kazakov (UKR) who claimed silver while Clara Klug and her guide Martin Hartl (GER) collected bronze. The Men's 15km- Visually Impaired saw a 1-2 for Ukraine as Vitaliy Luk'yanenko and his guide Ivan Marchyshak took gold ahead of Oleksandr Kazik and his guide Sergiy Kucheryaviy who secured silver while Anthony Chalencon and his guide Simon Valverde (FRA) earned bronze.

Over in Snowboarding, gold for USA in the Women's Banked Slalom-SBLL1 as Brenna Huckaby finished ahead of Cecile Hernandez (FRA) who secured silver and Amy Purdy (USA) who collected bronze. The Men's event saw a 1-2 for USA as Noah Elliot won gold and Mike Schultz took silver while Bruno Bosnjak (CRO) earned bronze. A 1st/3rd for Netherlands in the Women's Banked Slalom-SBLL2 as Bibian Mentel-Spee won gold and Lisa Bunschoten took bronze sandwiching the silver collected by Brittani Coury (USA). 

The Men's event saw Gurimu Narita (JPN) win gold ahead of Evan Strong (USA) who secured silver and Matti Suur-Hamari (FIN) who collected bronze.  A third gold of the day for USA came in the Men's Banked Slalom - SB-UL as Mike Minor won ahead of Patrick Mayrhofer (AUT) who claimed silver and Simon Patmore (AUS).

Pyeongchang Paralympics Days Two and Three

Day two opened with double joy for ParalympicsGB as Mille Knight (Guide-Brett Wild) and Menna Fitzpatrick (Guide- Jen Kehoe) claimed silver and bronze in the Women's Super-G Visually Impaired with Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) (Guide- Natalia Subrtova) taking the gold. 

The Men's event saw gold also taken by Slovakia with Jakub Krako (Guide- Branislav Brozman) winning while Giacomo Bertagnolli (ITA) (Guide- Fabrizio Casal) collected silver and Miroslav Haraus (SVK) (Guide- Maros Hudik) claiming bronze. 

In the Women's Super-G Standing, Marie Bochet (FRA) won gold ahead of Andrea Rothfuss (GER) who collected silver and Alana Ramsay (CAN) who earned bronze. The Men's event saw gold claimed by Theo Gmur (SUI) while Arthur Bauchet (FRA) secured silver and Markus Salcher (AUT) battled for bronze.

Gold for Germany's Anna Schaffelhuber in the Women's Super-G Sitting as she won ahead of Claudia Loesch (AUT) who took silver while Momoka Muraoka (JPN) collected bronze. The Men's event saw gold won by Canadian skier Kurt Oatway ahead of Andrew Kurka (USA) who collected silver and Frederic Francois (FRA) earning bronze.

Over in Cross Country Skiing, Gold for Ukraine's Maksym Yarovyi in the Men's 15km-Sitting with Daniel Cnossen (USA) securing silver and Sin Eui Hyun (KOR) earning bronze. The Women's 12km- Sitting saw double joy for the USA with Kendall Gretsch taking gold and Oksana Masters the bronze sandwiching the silver won by Andrea Eskau (GER).

Day Three

Day three's medals began with a 1-2 for USA in the Women's Snowboard Cross SB-LL1 with Brenna Huckaby winning gold and Amy Purdy securing silver while Cecile Hernandez (FRA) took bronze. The SB LL2 event saw a 1-2 for Netherlands as Bibian Mentel-Spee won gold ahead of Lisa Bunschoten while Astrid Fina Paredes (ESP) collected bronze.

Gold for Simon Patmore (AUS) in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-UL as he finished ahead of Manuel Pozzerle (ITA) who took silver and Mike Minor (USA) who claimed bronze. The SB LL1 event saw a 1/3 for USA with Mike Schultz winning gold and Noah Elliot the bronze while Chris Vos (NED) secured silver. Gold for Finland's Matti Suur-Hamari in the SB-LL2 event ahead of Keith Gabel (USA) who collected silver and Gurimu Narita (JPN) who earned bronze.

Over in Cross Country Skiing, gold for Ihor Reptyukh (UKR) in the Men's 20km Free - Standing ahead of Benjamin Daviet (FRA) who secured silver and Hakon Olsrud (NOR) who earned bronze. A 1-2 for Neutral Paralympic Athletes in the Women's 15km Free- Standing as Ekaterina Rumyantseva won gold and Anna Milenina took silver ahead of Liudmyia Liashenko (UKR) who collected bronze. 

The Men's 20km Free- Visually Impaired saw Brian McKeever (CAN) win gold ahead of Yury Holub and guide Dzmitry Budzilovich (BLR) who secured silver and Thomas Clarion (Guide- Antoine Bollet) (FRA) who collected bronze. The Women's 15km Free- Visually Impaired saw gold won by Sviatlana Sakhanenka (Guide- Raman Yashchanka) (BLR) ahead of Oksana Shyshkova (Guide- Vitaly Kazakov) (UKR) who secured silver and Mikhalina Lysova (Guide- Alexey Ivanov) (NPA) who earned bronze.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Day One

A delayed review of the opening day begins with early joy for ParalympicsGB with as Millie Knight and her guide Brett Wild claimed silver in the Women's Downhill - Visually Impaired with Henrieta Farkasova and her guide Natalia Surbotova (SVK) taking the gold and Eleonor Sana and her guide Chloe Sana (BEL) collecting bronze. The Men's event saw Mac Marcoux and his guide Jack Leitch (CAN) winning gold ahead of Jakub Krako and his guide Branislav Brozman (SVK) who took silver and Giacomo Bertagnolli and his guide Fabrizio Casal (ITA) who collected bronze.

Continuing on Alpine Skiing, the Women's Downhill-Standing saw gold won by Marie Bochet (FRA) with Andrea Rothfuss (GER) securing silver and Mollie Jepsen (CAN) earning bronze. The Men's event saw gold for Theo Gmur (SUI) ahead of Arthur Bauchet (FRA) who collected silver and Marcus Salcher (AUT) who took bronze.

Gold for Germany's Anna Schaffelhuber in the Women's Downhill - Sitting with Momoka Muraoka (JPN) taking silver and Laurie Stephens (USA) collecting bronze. The Men's event saw gold won by Andrew Kurka (USA) with Taiki Morii (JPN) taking silver and Corey Peters (NZL) collecting bronze.

Moving onto Biathlon, the Women's 6km Sitting saw a 1-2 for USA as Kendall Gretsch took gold and Oksana Masters collecting silver while Lidziya Hrafeyeva (BLR) claimed bronze. In the Men's 7.5km - Standing, gold went to Benjamin Daviet (FRA) ahead of Mark Arendz (CAN) who secured silver and Ihor Reptyukh (UKR) who took bronze.

The Women's 6km- Visually Impaired saw gold won by Mikhalina Lysova and her guide Alexey Ivanov (NPA), Oksana Shyshkova and her guide Vitaly Kazakov (UKR) claimed silver while Sviatlana Sakahanenka and her guide Raman Yashchanka (BLR) earned bronze. The Men's 7.5km- Visually Impaired saw a 1st and 3rd for Ukraine as Vitaly Luk'Yanenko and his guide Ivan Marchyshak winning gold with Anatolii Kovalevskyi  and his guide Oleksandr Mukshyn claiming bronze while Yury Holub and his guide Dzmitry Budzilovich (BLR) collected silver.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Opening Ceremony

After a superb Winter Olympics last month, the Winter Paralympics were officially opened today with a glittering opening ceremony.

A record 567 athletes will compete across nine days of competition including a Paralympics GB team of 17 who had snowboarder Owen Pick as flagbearer during the ceremony which featured Korean dance,music and light displays.

Unlike the Olympic ceremony, Korea walked in to the parade as separate entities but were unified during the procession of the Paralympic flame with North and South Korean athletes held the flame aloft ahead of the final relay.  

After the athletes parade, the ceremony sprung into life with flashes of colour focusing around illuminated fish, children on sleds and boats and a clever skateboarding routine from games mascot Bandabi. One of the highlights of the event saw a 'Para Boat' raised into the air to the backdrop of K-Pop. Following the lighting of the flame, there was further renditions of K-pop and the ceremony was complete.

Day one of competition will see a raft of medals with hopes of a good start towards Paralympics GB's target of seven.