Sweden will not boycott the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Verona, Italy, despite a growing international protest against the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes, Swedish Paralympic Committee Head of Delegation Niclas Grön confirmed on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian team has already announced its boycott of the March 6th opening ceremony, citing the decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their national flags. Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Poland have since joined the boycott, according to Swedish broadcaster SVT.
“We are not going to do a boycott – we have known for two years that we would not be at the opening ceremony,” Grön stated. “It is in Verona, and from Cortina it is about twelve hours to the finish. If you have trained for this for four years, you do not travel there.”
Grön emphasized his personal opposition to the participation of Russian athletes, stating, “That is absolutely nothing I support.” During the recent Olympic Games, Russian and Belarusian athletes were permitted to compete as neutral athletes, a condition not applied to the Paralympic Games.
The Swedish delegation will consist of 13 athletes competing in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, and wheelchair curling, as announced by the Swedish Paralympic Committee. Ebba Årsjö in alpine skiing and Zebastian Modin in cross-country skiing/biathlon are identified as key medal hopes for the team. This year’s team includes a mix of returning athletes from the 2022 Games and four debutantes, according to Grön.
The Paralympic Winter Games are scheduled to take place from March 6th to 15th in Italy.
