Winter Paralympics torch relay starts

The torch relay of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics starts on Wednesday and will culminate in the lighting of the Paralympic flame in the National Stadium on Friday at the Games' opening ceremony.

The relay will cross three competition zones including central Beijing, the capital's Yanqing district, and Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, and feature 565 torchbearers.

Nine flames will be combined to form the torch relay flame, according to the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The first flame, known as the Paralympic Heritage Flame, was lit in Stoke Mandeville, England, the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement, on Monday.

On July 29, 1948, Ludwig Guttmann, a German-born English neurosurgeon in charge of the National Spinal Injuries Unit at Stoke Mandeville, organized an archery contest among 16 disabled patients, which evolved into the Paralympic Games.

Countess Howe, lord-lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, said the lighting of the Paralympic Heritage Flame will continue the link to Stoke Mandeville, and its story will be shared with athletes competing in Beijing.

"Beijing has the unique distinction of becoming the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. I would like to congratulate and thank the Chinese for managing to host the Games so successfully under the incredibly challenging circumstances of the pandemic," she said during the ceremony on Monday.

The other eight flames will be lit in schools, libraries and historic landmarks in the three Paralympics competition zones. At the Beijing School for the Blind, students will sing to ignite one of the flames by activating a pressure sensor.

"The flames collected from the three competition zones and Stoke Mandeville will converge to become the flame of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics on Wednesday afternoon," said Xu Zhijun, a deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee.

A key principle of the torch relay is to try to ensure the Paralympics and Olympics are "equally splendid". "We need to show our inclusiveness and our care and respect for people with disabilities," Xu said.

About a fifth of the torchbearers will include people with disabilities. To ensure the safety of the disabled torchbearers, the organizing committee has prepared barrier-free facilities at all relay points.

Each disabled torchbearer will be assigned an assistant. There will also be sign-language interpreters, guides for blind people and backup wheelchairs during the torch relay.

A highlight of the event will be two disabled torchbearers using robot exoskeletons during the relay leg at Shougang Industrial Park in Beijing on Friday morning.

Another focus is the design of the torch. The torch, named "Flying", has a color combination of silver and gold. It symbolizes "glory and dreams" while reflecting the Paralympic values of "determination, equality, inspiration and courage".

Made of carbon fiber, the torch is light, resistant to high temperatures and primarily fueled by hydrogen, making it free of emissions and demonstrating the organizers' aim of staging a "green and high-tech" Games.