Armenia at the 2018 Winter Paralympics facts for kids
Armenia sent athletes to compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The Paralympics are a big sports event for athletes with disabilities. Armenia sent one para-alpine skier, Sasun Hakobyan. He earned his spot in November 2017. He was even chosen for the Paralympic team before any of the country's athletes for the regular Olympics.
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Team Armenia at the Paralympics
Armenia sent one athlete to the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Sasun Hakobyan (Սասուն Հակոբյան) was chosen to represent Armenia in December 2017. He was selected for the Paralympics even before the athletes going to the regular Olympics. The whole team had five people. This included four people who were there to support their skier. The team traveled to South Korea on March 5, 2018.
In late February, Hakob Abrahamyan, who leads Armenia's National Paralympic Committee, wanted to add another person to the team. He hoped alpine skier Sasun Hakobyan could go to Pyeongchang too. The challenge was that the skier had missed an important qualifying competition. Armenia asked the International Paralympic Committee if he could still compete.
The table below shows the members of "Team Armenia" who took part in the 2018 Games.
| Name | Sport | Gender | Classification | Events | ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sasun Hakobyan | para-alpine skiing | male | LW2 | ||
| Stasik Nazaryan | para-alpine skiing | male |
Preparing for the Games
The Government of Armenia gave the National Paralympic Committee about 6.5 million Armenian Drams (AMD) for the Winter Paralympics. This money helped pay for plane tickets, team uniforms, and sports equipment.
About Para-alpine Skiing
The Skiers
Sasun Hakobyan earned his spot for the Winter Paralympics in November 2017. Earlier in 2017, he competed in an international skiing event in Iran. His coach is Stas Nazaryan. Stasik Nazaryan also qualified by competing in a race in Germany in January 2018.
Race Schedule
The first para-alpine skiing event was the downhill race, which started on March 10. Skiers raced from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. The next event was the Super-G on March 11, with all skiers racing between 9:30 AM and 1:00 PM.
The super combined event happened on March 13. The Super-G part was in the morning, and the slalom part was in the afternoon. The slalom event took place on March 14 and finished on March 15. Both women and men raced during the morning sessions. In the afternoons, women did their second run first, followed by the men.
The final para-alpine skiing race of the 2018 Games was the giant slalom. It took place on March 17 and 18. Men and women raced at the same time in the morning sessions. In the afternoon, women raced first, and men started about half an hour after they finished.
Armenia's Paralympic History
Armenia first competed at the Winter Paralympics in the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. The only sport the country has competed in is para-alpine skiing. From 1998 to 2014, Armenia was represented by standing skier Mher Avanesyan. His best result was finishing 34th in standing slalom at the 2014 Sochi Games. Armenia had not yet won a medal before the 2018 Winter Games.
See also
In Spanish: Armenia en los Juegos Paralímpicos de Pyeongchang 2018 para niños
