With races run, records set and widely accessible facilities now in place, the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic flame was gracefully extinguished, marking the end of the 9-day sporting spectacle which saw grit and resilience of the athletes shine through despite myriad challenges.

As Omicron rages and case numbers skyrocket, China once again reminded the world of its uncanny ability to rise above testing times. Urged on by massive home support, the country got behind the Paralympics with unprecedented level of meticulousness and enthusiasm, raising further awareness of disabilities and helping shift perceptions towards people with disability around the world.

"With the economic and social development in China, there has been increasing care and support for para sports," said Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee (BOCOG) Vice President Yang Shu'an. "People with disabilities have always been striving to be better, so it's a combination of factors."

Since winning the bid to host the 2022 Winter Paralympics in 2015, China has stepped its efforts to promote equality of opportunity and greater respect for individuals with disability, as well as encouraging them to explore what they could.

The participation rate in grassroots cultural and sports activities for people with disability in China has spiraled, from 6.8 percent in 2015 to 23.9 percent in 2021, according to the white paper "China's Parasports: Progress and the Protection of Rights" released earlier this month.

China has also led the way in staging a nationwide 'Winter Sports Season for People with Disabilities', providing them with a platform to engage in regular exercise.

A variety of novel and fun winter parasports activities, such as ice fishing, ice dragon boating, snow football and snow tug-of-war have been held in local communities, encouraging people with disability to get involved in winter sports and explore sporting possibilities they may never have known existed.

The white paper shows that the scale of participation in such activities has expanded from 14 provincial-level units in 2016 to 31 provinces and equivalent administrative units last year.

The rapid growth in involvement and media coverage of parasports sport has aided China's commitment to improve the lives of millions of people with disability and protect their rights as equal members of society.

As of 2020, a total of 10,675 accessibility sports venues have been built across the nation, 125,000 social sports instructors for persons with disabilities have been trained, and 434,000 households with members with severe disabilities have been provided with rehabilitation and fitness services at home.

Beijing 2022 has opened opportunities for people with disabilities and proved to be a defining shift in society's outlook on disabilities. Just as International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said last week, so many aspects of this year's showpiece event have set the benchmark for how Paralympics should be organized in the future.

"There's been a phenomenal change in Chinese Paralympic winter sports. Only China can deliver such a growth number," said Parsons. "The future of Chinese Paralympic winter sports is going to be very similar to summer sports, with China becoming one of the leading nations in the Paralympic movement."

source: CGTN