Cross-country ski athletes and the coaching staff who will represent Brazil at the Beijing Winter Paralympics arrived in China this Saturday (26). They complied with the sanitary procedures, mandatory in the midst of the new coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic, to enter the Zhangjiakou Paralympic Village, the city that will host the sport and snowboard disputes, which is 197 kilometers from the capital.
The first training sessions on Chinese soil, in mobility (with the physiotherapy team) and mental (with psychology), are scheduled for Sunday (27). The technical team, in turn, will reconnoitre the mountains.
“The rooms are spacious and we have already received some pampering from the event’s organization. We don’t know all the facilities yet, as we had to stay in the room until the result of the PCR test for covid-19 came out”, said skier from Paraná Aline Rocha to the official website of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB).
Cristian Ribera, Guilherme Rocha, Robelson Lula and Wesley dos Santos will also defend the country in cross country skiing. Aline and Cristian are the only ones who have competed in the Games, in Pyeongchang (South Korea), four years ago. The Rondonian achieved the best Brazilian result in the history of the event, coming in sixth place in the 15 km race.
Brazil will still be represented by André Barbieri on snowboard. The prediction was that the gaucho and the coach would also arrive in China this Saturday, but “complications of test results [da covid-19] postponed the trip”, according to the athlete, in a post on Instagram. Landing should take place on Tuesday (1st).
The opening ceremony of the Paralympics will be next Friday (4), at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, in Beijing.
