Oksana Masters of the U.S. competes during the women's middle distance sitting event of para cross country skiing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics on March 12, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP file photo)

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The Winter Paralympics come to Milan Cortina to celebrate their 50th anniversary, with China looking to extend its dominance as a Paralympic powerhouse and Ukraine and other nations boycotting the opening ceremony over the return of the Russian flag and anthem.

The Games officially kick off Friday amid the tensions of the war in the Middle East, which prompted travel difficulties for some of the nations coming to Italy because of a widespread flight disruptions. Iran was due to have one skier at Milan Cortina.

Wheelchair curling launched the competition schedule on Wednesday and the sport was quickly hit by another scandal as two rocks were stolen from the Curling Olympic Stadium. During the Olympics, the Canadian team was accused of cheating.

The Paralympic Games are back in Italy 20 years after Torino 2006. It will be the 14th edition of the Winter Paralympics since the inaugural edition in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, in 1976. Nearly 200 athletes competed in two sports at the time. Some 660 athletes will participate across six sports in Italy through March 15.

The U.S. is sending a 72-member contingent to Italy, compared to the 67-member roster it took to Beijing 2022. This year’s delegation includes Oksana Masters, the most decorated American Winter Paralympian, and 16-year-old Para alpine skier Meg Gustafson.

Russian flag back

Russian athletes will compete under their own flag at the Paralympics for the first time in more than a decade, and the country’s national anthem could be played for gold medalists for the first time on the stage of a major global sporting event since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Russian flag hasn’t been flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, while the national anthem has not been heard at any Olympics or Paralympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

It could be the first time the anthem is played on the stage of any major global sporting event in four years.

Ukraine was the first to announce that it was planning to boycott the opening ceremony because of Russia, and seven other nations were planning not to attend because of political reasons: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania and the Netherlands.

Some other nations are not attending the opening ceremony to rest their athletes ahead of their competitions, not as a boycott.

Chinese dominance

The Milan Cortina Games will give China the chance to establish itself as the nation to beat in both the Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.

The Chinese have topped the medal count in the Summer Paralympics every time since 2004, and four years ago won the Winter Games for the first time with a record-setting performance that included 18 gold medals, 20 silver and 23 bronze.

China had more than 90 Para athletes competing at its home Games in 2022, the most ever by any nation, and is sending another large delegation to Italy this time. It will have 70 athletes competing in Italy, making its largest ever overseas delegation.

Norway is the most successful nation in Winter Paralympics, ahead of the United States and Austria. China is 14th in the all-time medal table but competed in less than half of the Games in which Norway, the U.S. and Austria participated since the first Winter Paralympics in Ornskoldsvik.

China’s push to dominate in the Winter Paralympics got a boost when it was picked to host the Beijing Games, where it won 60 more medals than the single one it had won in PyeongChang in 2018.

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AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games