Paralympians from the Celestial Empire triumphed in Italy // Photo: paralympic.org .
The Chinese team won the medal standings (see TOP-10 in the table) for the second time in a row – they also triumphed at their home Paralympics in 2022.
The most “yielding” sport
More than half of the gold medals – eight – were won by Chinese athletes in para-biathlon. Three top honors for the Celestial Empire came from the successful performances of para-skiers, two from para-snowboarders and one in para-mountain skiing. Another gold medal was won by the Chinese mixed team in the wheelchair curling doubles tournament.
The rest of the top three
Second place went to the U.S. Paralympic team with 13 gold, five silver and six bronze medals. Eight victories of American athletes (including one – mixed team) were won in para-skiing, two each in para-biathlon and para-snowboarding. The U.S. team also won the Paralympic tournament in sledge hockey, beating Canada 6-2 in the final. At the Paralympics, only men’s teams compete in this sport.
The Russian team, whose athletes competed at the Winter Paralympics under their own flag and anthem for the first time since 2014, rounded out the top three. They have eight gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Five gold medals were won in para-skiing and three in para-mountain skiing. Russia set a record at the Winter Paralympic Games – the first time in history that a team represented by such a small number of athletes made it into the top three. Only six Russian Paralympians went to Italy.
Home walls did not help them to rise to TOP-3
The hosts of the Paralympics – the Italians – took the fourth place. They have seven gold and silver medals each, as well as two bronze medals. They won four in para alpine skiing and three in para snowboarding.
Over the 10 days of the Games, about 700 athletes with physical and mental disabilities competed for 79 medals in six disciplines – para-biathlon, para-mountaineering, wheelchair curling, para-skiing, sledge hockey and para-snowboarding.
Medals were won by representatives of 27 countries. Paralympians from almost 50 countries took part in the event. Moldova was not represented by any athlete.
|
TOP-10 of the final medal standings of the XIV Winter Paralympic Games |
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|
№ |
National team | Gold medals | Silver medals | Bronze medals |
Total |
|
1 |
China |
15 |
13 | 16 |
44 |
|
2 |
USA |
13 |
5 | 6 |
24 |
|
3 |
Russia |
8 |
1 | 3 |
12 |
|
4 |
Italy |
7 |
7 | 2 |
16 |
|
5 |
Austria |
7 |
2 | 4 |
13 |
|
6 |
France |
4 |
4 | 4 |
12 |
|
7 |
Ukraine |
3 |
8 | 8 |
19 |
|
8 |
Canada |
3 |
4 | 8 |
15 |
|
9 |
Netherlands |
3 |
3 | 1 |
7 |
|
10 |
Sweden |
3 |
0 | 4 |
7 |
| Total |
66/79 |
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