Google animated Doodle denotes the Winter Paralympic Games 2022 begins on March 4

The Winter Paralympic Games 2022 kick off in Beijing on Friday (Mar 4), and Google is celebrating the event with an animated Doodle that features the sports where competitors will take part.

The competitive critters included in today’s Google Doodle have accumulated from everywhere the world under the winter sky to stay calm and collected and set their rivals on ice. Who will jump on victory and scurry home an international legend?

Starting as a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948, the Paralympic Games have developed into the world’s biggest sporting event for athletes with physical debilitations. Starting around 1960, the Paralympics have occurred during that same year the Olympic Games are held.

Officially known as the XIII Paralympic Winter Games, the current year’s competition will run from March 4-13 and be the greatest winter Paralympics to date. Around 650 athletes will strive for 78 medals in six sports: Alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, snowboarding, and wheelchair curling.

The Games were relied upon to highlight delegates from 49 countries, however, competitors from Russia and Belarus have been banned from taking an interest after different teams took steps to blacklist the Games over Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Belarus was included in the boycott since that country has served as a key staging area for the invasion Russia launched a week ago.

Thursday’s decision by the International Paralympic Committee came a day after the governing body said it would permit athletes from the two countries to partake in the Games as neutrals.

Russia is drafting a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the IPC’s decision, the Russian news agency Tass revealed Thursday. A 71-member Russian contingent and 12-member team from Belarus are now in Beijing.

The Winter Paralympic Games 2022 will be broadcast on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, Olympic Channel, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports App.