Key facts you need to know about the Paralympic Winter Games

IV. Some interesting facts and figures about Winter Paralympics

1. These vision-impaired athletes compete with a guide who assists them during their events and are ultimately responsible for their safety. For alpine skiing, guides communicate by radio, and the athletes have microphones in their ear while racing down the hill.

2. In Paralympic ice hockey, athletes use sticks with the spiked end to push the sled and the flat end is used to hit the ball.

3. In curling, wheelchair curlers do not slide out of the front line. Instead, the player throws the curler from a fixed position near the forward line, which means the thrower must release the curler completely.

4. In biathlon, visually impaired athletes use audio signals to assist when shooting, and the strength of the signal indicates whether the player has hit the target.

5. In Paralympic ice hockey, athletes don't wear skates, but move across the ice by double-edged sleds so that the puck can pass under the sled.

6. A panel of international classifiers determines where athletes should be placed. In the Games, competitors with vision and physical impairments compete, and most events are divided into vision, sitting, and standing categories.

7. When it comes to wheelchair curling, athletes don't need to be a wheelchair user in daily life to compete, as the event includes those who have lower-body impairments but can still walk short distances.

8. Norwegians have competed in every Paralympic Winter Games since 1976 and currently lead with 135 gold medals.