Junichi Kawai
Chairman of the Japanese Paralympic Committee and,
Head of the Japanese Delegation to the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games

Introduction

The following is a report on the findings gained from experiences as the leader of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games Japan National Team (henceforth referred to as the Japanese team).

1. Paralympic Outline

During the Beijing Winter Games, activities to win slots on the Olympic team were strongly affected by the new strain of the coronavirus. Due to the cancellation of the World Cup and the effects of strict border control measures in Japan, overseas competitive tours have been difficult for the past two years.

Under such circumstances, for 10 days from March 4rth (Friday) to the 13th (Sunday), 2022, 78 events in 6 competitions (Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Biathlon, Snowboarding, Ice Hockey, and Wheelchair Curling) were held in three regions centering on Beijing City, including Yanqing District and Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province in the People’s Republic of China. The number of participating countries was 46 (12 in Asia), and the number of participating players was 564. Of these, 136 female athletes participated which was the highest number of female participants ever in the Winter Games.

Following Russian invasion of Ukraine just before the opening ceremony, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) once allowed participation of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) and the Belarusian team (March 2), but the next day it was decided they would be excluded from the Games. As a result, the number of participants had significantly decreased from the previous Games.

The Beijing Winter Paralympics, like the Tokyo Games, was strongly affected by the new strain of the coronavirus. As a general rule, the Games were implemented without spectators and were carried out in a closed-loop system based on a playbook, with daily PCR tests, behavior, and health management thoroughly enforced.

2. Composition of the Japan national team

The selection of the Japanese National Team was made based on the organization policy and selection criteria of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Athletic Body and announced by the Japanese Paralympic Committee (henceforth referred to as JPC) in March 2021. As a result, four snow related competitions out of six, Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Biathlon, and Snowboarding, were entered. Unfortunately, Ice Hockey and Wheelchair Curling did not qualify.

The Olympic Village was divided into two locations: Alpine Skiing was held in the Yanqing area and the Cross-Country Skiing, Biathlon, and Snowboarding in the Zhangjiakou area.

The Japanese team consisted of 29 athletes, 1 competition partner (guide), 29 competition staff members, and 14 staff members working at the headquarters, for a total of 73 people. The size of this team was the fifth largest among the participating countries.

The number of appearances by athletes ranged from the first time to seven times, the most by a Japanese athlete at the Winter Paralympics. The percentage of first-time athletes was 35%. This accounts for about one-third of the total number of athletes. On the other hand, it can be said that this national team was characterized by the fact that there are many experienced athletes with about 1 in 4 having appeared 5 to 7 times.

In addition, there were four athletes who participated in the Summer and Winter Paralympics, three of whom participated in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Regarding the male-female ratio of athletes, the total slots for the athletes were 69.8% for males and 30.2% for females, while the ratio for athletes was 72.4% male and 27.6% female. The male-female ratio of athletes was not much different from the male-female ratio of competition events. In addition, the average age of the athletes was 34.8 years, which was almost the same as the PyeongChang Paralympics. The youngest athletes in these Games were 18 years old and the oldest were 49 years old.

When one looks at the overall ratio by disability of athletes who participated in medal events, (Physical Impairments PI / Visual Impairments VI), PI: 71.8% and VI: 28.2%. In contrast, the ratio of athletes was PI: 96.6% and VI: 3.4%. The ratio of visually impaired athletes was extremely low.

3. Goals and results of the Games

(1) Background of setting goals for the Games

In the Tokyo Paralympic Games, clear goals for the number of metals, etc., were not officially announced, due to overseas sporting tours and classification problems because of the corona disaster. It was decided to take the same stance in the Beijing Winter Games, just aiming for "the best possible performance".

However, the JPSA 2030 Vision is to achieve a gold medal ranking of 5th place. The national second basic plan for sports states that the aim is for results higher than the previous Games. That part of the plan has not been revised. In the "Sustainable International Competitiveness Improvement Plan" announced in December 2021 as well as the Third Basic Sports Plan from April 2022, we have decided to verify the results from many different perspectives since showing multiple criteria, not only the gold medal ranking, but also the number of gold medals, the overall number of medals, and medals acquired from other events.

(2) Results from the Games

As for the results, the national team was able to win a total of 7 medals, 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and 2 bronze medals. This was the highest number of gold medals in the Winter Paralympic Games held overseas. The gold medal ranking was also 9th, which was the same ranking as the previous PyeongChang Paralympics. However, the total number of medals has decreased by 3 from 10 in the Pyeongchang Games. Furthermore, in these Paralympics, we only won medals in two competitions, Alpine Skiing and Cross-Country Skiing. This was a reduction in events from three competitions in the previous Games. On the other hand, the number of winnable prizes was 34, which was 2.5 times that of the previous PyeongChang Games. From this, we think we were able to raise the level of competition as a whole. However, we can say that it was difficult to strengthen the athletes to the level needed to acquire medals.

There were 3 medalists, 2 of whom were multi-medalists and 1 of them was a multi-gold medalist winner. Since the two medalists were in their twenties, they can be expected to play an active role in future competitions.

4. Looking to the future

(1) A rapid improvement in the Level of competitiveness in China

China has maintained the number one position in the gold medal ranking hands down since 2008 at the Summer Paralympics. However, in the past Winter Games, only one gold medal for Wheelchair Curling in the PyeongChang Paralympics was won, but in this 2008 Winter Paralympics a total of 61 medals including 18 golds was the highest count. If you investigate the reason, you can summarize it into the following three points.

① There is an environment where promising talented athletes can be selected and these athletes can devoted themselves to their competition (full-time athletes / professional athletes, transferring athletes from one event to another in summer competitions) → Population of 85 million people with disabilities

② Environment where an athlete can train throughout the year (snow dome, exclusive ice skating rink)

③ Inviting coaches from overseas powerhouses such as Italy, Russia, etc.

Since the Winter Paralympics has a thinner player base than in the Summer Games, it is thought that the athletes were able to achieve, in a short period of time, these high results due to the implementation of strategic training described above.

(2) Issues in Winter Paralympic athlete discovery, development, and strengthening

① Discovery and training of young athletes, the next generation of snow-based competitions

In the Beijing Winter Paralympics, certain results were achieved. Actually, the current situation is the ranking has been raised due to the success of multi-medalists. It can be said that there is an urgent need to further improve the athletes who have won prizes as first-time participants, discover young athletes, and establish a training system. The financial burden of building a training environment, such as equipment and providing overseas experiences, is even greater than in the Summer Paralympic games, which is a major barrier. In addition, it cannot be denied that the training environment is affected by the place of origin and place of residence of the athletes, and it is important to effectively utilize the talent discovery program such as the Japan Rising Star Project while cooperating with the NF.

② Competitions occurring on the ice

Regarding sports that occur on the ice, such as Ice Hockey and Wheelchair Curling, that did not make to this year’s Paralympics, the NF and JPC will need to work together to conduct surveys of powerhouse countries and use the findings to discover, train and strengthen athletes. With the aim of bidding for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sapporo in 2030, we do not think there will be enough time for preparation and responses after the decision is made, so it would be desirable to link the NF’s strategic plan for strengthening with the JPC’s strategic plan. Specifically, we believe that strategic talent searched, and utilization of J-stars are the keys. We think that finding the type and degree of disability that are right for each sport and intensively training and strengthening those individuals will be the means to strengthen results in a short period of time.

In conclusion

The Tokyo Paralympic Games, postponed for a year, had been successfully held despite the Corona disaster. We felt the great success of the Japanese athletes accelerated the Paralympic movement and the progress toward a symbiotic society. The Beijing Winter Paralympics was held under such circumstances, and we thought it would be a major point if the momentum could continue. The Beijing Winter Paralympics, which was held in the midst of Russian military invasion of Ukraine, which shook world peace, had such an impact that IPC President Parsons had to shout "Peace" at the opening ceremony. It was also an opportunity to rethink the values from the land of sports.

Last but not least, it was a very valuable experience for me to be given the great honor of being the leader of the delegation for the Tokyo Paralympics. I am really thankful to you. We would like to thank all of you for your support.

Table 1
Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games Gold Medal Ranking

Ranking  

Country name  

Gold  

Silver

Copper

Total

1 

China 

18

20

23

61

2

Ukraine

11

10

8

29

3

Canada

8

6

11

25

4

France

7

3

2

12

5

United States

6

11

3

20

6

Austria

5

5

3

13

7

Germany

4

8

7

19

8

Norway

4

2

1

7

9

Japan

4

1

2

7

10

Slovakia

3

0

3

6

11

Italy

2

3

2

7

12

Sweden

2

2

3

7

13

Finland

2

2

0

4

14

United Kingdom

1

1

4

6

15

New Zealand

1

1

2

4

16

Netherlands

0

3

1

4

17

Australia

0

3

1

4

18

Kazakhstan

0

0

1

1

19

Swizerland

0

0

1

1

2022/4/21 as of now