The opening ceremonies of the PyeongChang Paralympics, photo courtesy of the Republic of Korea

Pyeongchang Paralympics in the Spotlight


The opening ceremonies of the Pyeongchang Paralympics, photo courtesy of the Republic of Korea

For winter sports enthusiasts going through Olympic withdrawal syndrome, fear not — the Paralympic Games are just getting started.

The opening ceremonies of the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, took place on March 9. The games run through March 18 and have made huge strides in media recognition. Case in point, if you log on to Google today, you see a cool animation showing a seated cross-country skier, sled hockey player, curler in a wheelchair, below-the-knee amputee snowboarder and one-armed snowboarder.  Even better, there is a write-up on the “Google doodle” in Time magazine.

The games are also gaining television coverage, specifically on NBC and NBC Sports Network, as well as the Olympic Channel and livestreaming on nbcolympics.com.  The full schedule of coverage can be seen here.

The winter Paralympics have also captured interest on tech and edgy sites like BuzzFeed, which features a catchy and easy-to-understand write up and animation of the six sports and explanation of disability classifications — paraplegic, amputee, vision-impaired, etc. — as well as a look at adaptations and techniques that the 650 participants use to compete.

And last but not least, unlike after past Olympics, where sponsors “rolled up the carpet and went home” before the start of the Paralympics, Toyota remains a strong partner — perhaps this means we might catch more glimpses of the new iBot in their commercial coverage.

Let the games begin!


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