--- title: Google Doodle Celebrates Start of 2018 Winter Paralympics description: The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics kick off on March 8. This year's competition is the biggest winter Paralympics to date canonical: https://time.com/5192586/google-doodle-2018-paralympics-pyeongchang/ author: Laignee Barron article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-09T04:00:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T21:21:58.000Z og:title: Google Doodle Marks the Start of the 2018 Winter Paralympics og:description: Over 560 athletes are vying for a medal at the Paralympic Games in PyeongChang og:url: https://time.com/5192586/google-doodle-2018-paralympics-pyeongchang/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b0ee4d3af42aa9f/69892a434ee26237cb311243/paralympics-2018-4676703698812928-2xa.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: paralympics-2018-4676703698812928-2xa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google Doodle Marks the Start of the 2018 Winter Paralympics twitter:description: Over 560 athletes are vying for a medal at the Paralympic Games in PyeongChang twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b0ee4d3af42aa9f/69892a434ee26237cb311243/paralympics-2018-4676703698812928-2xa.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 2018 Winter Paralympics Kick Off Today in PyeongChang. Here’s How Google Doodle Is Celebrating the Games ## Video: The 2018 Winter Paralympics Torch Ceremony in PyeongChang [Watch (HLS stream): The 2018 Winter Paralympics Torch Ceremony in PyeongChang](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ep3JXYPS.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2018-03-09. The 2018 winter paralympics torch ceremony in PyeongChang_ by [Laignee Barron](https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:21 PM UTCPublished: Mar 9, 2018 4:00 AM UTC  Google's March 9, 2018 Doodle commemorates the start of the Pyeongchang Paralympics. Google's March 9, 2018 Doodle commemorates the start of the Pyeongchang Paralympics.Google Doodle by [Laignee Barron](https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:21 PM UTCPublished: Mar 9, 2018 4:00 AM UTC Friday’s Google Doodle [celebrates the opening](https://www.google.com/doodles/paralympics-2018) of the 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang. This year’s competition is the biggest winter Paralympics to date, with more athletes and countries participating than ever before. More than [560 athletes](https://www.paralympic.org/news/pyeongchang-2018-paralympics-be-biggest-yet) will vie for more than 80 medals in six sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling. [Three countries](http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/02/26/0200000000AEN20180226010000315.html) will be making their first Winter Paralympics appearance in South Korea. North Korea and Georgia are sending two athletes each, while Tajikistan has entered their first athlete. The U.S. is sending the largest delegation of 68 athletes, with Canada sending 52\. As with the Olympic Games, Russia’s athletes will again be competing as part of a neutral delegation, called the Neutral Paralympic Athletes, after a doping scandal resulted in Russia’s disqualification from both the 2018 Olympics and Paralympics.  Keiichi Sato of Japan in action during a Biathlon training session ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games on March 8, 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea. Naomi Baker—Getty Images **Read More:** [_Everything You Need to Know About the PyeongChang Paralympics_](http://time.com/5162516/pyeongchang-paralympics-2018-date-schedule-sports/) The Winter Paralympics have been held since 1976, when the Games [debuted](http://time.com/4480655/paralympics-history/) in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Google’s colorful Doodle depicts a line-up of athletes racing in all six qualifying sports. The Paralympics will run from March 9-18 this year. > [](https://twitter.com/MrT/status/968926498043277312) > [](https://twitter.com/Paralympics/status/971822930282864640) > [](https://twitter.com/RicoSled23/status/969348881841573888) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5192586/google-doodle-2018-paralympics-pyeongchang/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5192586/google-doodle-2018-paralympics-pyeongchang/"},"headline":"The 2018 Winter Paralympics Kick Off Today in PyeongChang. 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