The Winter Paralympics 2018 is beginning today in PyeongChang and Google Doodle is celebrating the opening. South Korea just witnessed the end of the Winter Olympics on February 25 but now it is time for South Korea to welcome athletes again, this time on a much larger scale. The Winter Paralympics will begin from March 9 to March 18. There will be about 670 athletes, more number of females than before showing their skills after years of hard work and training. The doodle reflects each of the sports of the tournament- athletes skiing, snowboarding, wheelchair boarding, all of them racing towards the finishing line.

Three countries will make their first appearance in South Korea- North Korea and Georgia will have two athletes representing and Tajikistan will also send their first athlete. The US has the largest number of athletes in attendance with 68 participants. The Winter Paralympic sports include alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling. The competitions will be held for more than 80 medals.

Canada has been the champions of the games currently and they will have a tough competition from the US. Canada is sending 52 athletes to PyeongChang. Russian teams have been impressive in the games in the year 2014. They won 80 medals in the year but this time they will not be sending their official team because of a doping scandal. 2018 Winter Paralympics Games In PyeongChang: Presence of North Korea to Schedule, All You Need To Know

The Winter Paralympics were first held in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. This year the official mascot for the games is Bandabi, an Asiatic black bear. Canada's Brian McKeever, US player Mike Schultz are the players to look out for in these games. Let us see this year which player reaches the podium in these competitions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2018 10:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).