Neutral Paralympic Athletes removed from Wheelchair Curling event

Following the decision by the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board today (Thursday 3 March), the Russian Paralympic Committee, set to compete as Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPA), will no longer feature in the Wheelchair Curling event at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

The field will now consist of the remaining 11 teams. A team with a bye may practice (30 minutes) at the start of the scheduled game time. A team with a bye will not have pre-game practice and the LSD, and will not participate at the pre-game introductions.

The World Curling Federation empathises with the athletes who have trained for years to reach these Games, however, it ultimately believes this decision taken by the International Paralympic Committee was the only option available to maintain the integrity of the competition.

The World Curling Federation strongly condemns the military action undertaken by the Russian Government in their invasion of Ukraine and continues to hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the situation.

Editor’s Note: The previous version of this story talked about the DNS status being applied to the NPA team. After further consultation this will no longer take place and teams will instead receive a bye as NPA will be removed from the playing schedule.