The refusal of Nette Kiviranta’s paralympic venue is based on the rules of the International Paralympic Committee.
Para-alpine skier Nette Kiviranta will be left out of the Beijing Paralympics. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) did not grant Kiviranta the right to participate in the Games.
Kiviranta, 20, won the World Championship silver in sledding in January in Lillehammer. According to the IPC, to qualify for the Paralympics, an athlete must have a license from the last two seasons.
Kiviranta only received its injury classification this season. He dropped his first race in November.
– We tried to get him a waiver in Beijing until the end – after all, he was a recent World Championship silver medalist – but the IPC strictly adhered to its participation criteria and did not grant a waiver to Nete, the leader of the Finnish Paralympic team Kimmo Mustonen said in a Paralympic Committee statement.
Kiviranta was paralyzed in a car accident in 2018 after a spinal cord injury. Before that, he had won the Finnish Championship bronze in the youth alpine skiing competition.
Finland’s final team named
At the same time, the Paralympic Committee announced the final selections for the Games to be held in Beijing from 4 to 13 June. March. Snowboarders get on the race plane Matti Sairanen and Tomi Taskinen as well as an alpine skier Maiju Laurila.
In total, the size of the Finnish team is six athletes and one guide skier. A snowboarder has been selected for the team in the past Matti Suur-Hamarialpine skier Santeri Kiiverivisually impaired skier Ink Inola and his guide skier Arttu Kaario.
– The team is an interesting mix of experience and youth. There are clear medal candidates on the team, and on the other hand, positive surprises can be prepared for. As the stars of the North, we go to get our own best performances of the season and let’s see what that’s enough, says team leader Mustonen.
Of the 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics, Finland won three medals: Matti Suur-Hamari won gold for snowboard cross and bronze for banked slalom, and Ilkka Tuomisto bronze from the cross-country sprint race.