Germany at the 2018 Winter Paralympics facts for kids

Germany sent a team of 19 athletes to the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. These Games were held from March 9 to 18, 2018. The German team included 10 women and 9 men. They competed in three main sports: para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing (which includes biathlon and cross-country skiing), and wheelchair curling.

Germany had hoped to send a team for sledge hockey as well, but they did not win enough qualifying games to make it to the Paralympics. Some sports leaders from Germany were also unhappy that Russian athletes were allowed to compete at the Games. A famous para-Nordic skier, Andrea Eskau, competed in her sixth Paralympic Games in 2018.

Team Germany

Germany sent 19 athletes to South Korea for the 2018 Winter Paralympics. These athletes competed in para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing, and wheelchair curling. The team had 10 women and 9 men. Nine of these athletes were competing in their first-ever Paralympic Games.

The team was officially chosen by the German Disabled Sports Association about 38 days before the Games began. The team's leader, known as the Chef-de-Mission, was Karl Quade. Many people thought Germany would win a lot of medals at these Games. This was because at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, Germany sent only 13 athletes, but they won a total of 15 medals.

Germany's sledge hockey team tried to qualify for the Winter Paralympics. However, they lost some important games and could not go to South Korea.

Here is a list of some of the athletes who were part of "Team Germany" for the 2018 Games:

Medal Winners

Germany had several athletes who won medals at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Medals are given to the top three athletes in each event: gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third.

Here are some of the athletes who won more than one medal:

Multiple medalists
Name	Sport				Total
Anna Schaffelhuber	Alpine skiing	2	0	0	2
Andrea Rothfuss		0	2	0	2

Here is a list of the medals won by German athletes:

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
1 Gold	Anna Schaffelhuber	Alpine skiing	Women's downhill, sitting	10 March
1 Gold	Anna Schaffelhuber	Alpine skiing	Women's super-G, sitting	11 March
2 Silver	Andrea Rothfuss	Alpine skiing	Women's downhill, standing	10 March
2 Silver	Andrea Rothfuss	Alpine skiing	Women's super-G, standing	11 March
2 Silver	Andrea Eskau	Cross-country skiing	Women's 12 km, sitting	11 March

Fair Play and Doping Concerns

Before the 2018 Winter Paralympics, the President of the German Disabled Sports Association, Julius Beucher, and the team's leader, Karl Quade, shared their concerns. They were not happy that the International Paralympic Committee allowed some Russian athletes to compete in South Korea.

Beucher and Quade wondered if the Russian athletes were "clean," meaning they were worried about doping. Doping is when athletes use forbidden substances to improve their performance. The German officials wanted the Winter Paralympics to be a competition where everyone played fairly and without any doping.

Para-alpine Skiing

Para-alpine skiing involves different types of races like downhill, Super-G, giant slalom, and slalom. Athletes compete in categories based on their disability, such as sitting, standing, or visually impaired.

Skiers

Anna Schaffelhuber is a very successful German para-alpine skier. At the 2014 Winter Paralympics, she won five gold medals in five races. She went to Pyeongchang hoping to win more medals and keep her titles.

Race Schedule

Skiers had practice runs for the downhill race on March 7. However, their practice runs on March 8 and 9 were canceled.

The first para-alpine event was the downhill race on March 10. The Super-G race followed on March 11. The super combined event, which includes a Super-G part and a slalom part, took place on March 13. The slalom event was held on March 14 and 15. The last para-alpine skiing race was the giant slalom, which happened on March 17 and 18.

Results

In the women's downhill standing race, Andrea Rothfuss from Germany won a silver medal. Anna Schaffelhuber of Germany won a gold medal in the women's downhill sitting race.

In the women's Super-G standing race, Andrea Rothfuss from Germany won another silver medal. Anna Schaffelhuber of Germany also won a gold medal in the women's Super-G sitting race.

Here are some of the results for German athletes in para-alpine skiing:

Athlete	Class	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Total
			Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Anna-Lena Forster	LW12-1	colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	DNF
		colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:36.26	4
Noemi Ewa Ristau Guide: Lucien Gerkau	B2	colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:33.33	4
		colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:39.09	7
Andrea Rothfuss	LW6/8-2	colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:32.53
		colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:33.10
Anna Schaffelhuber	LW10-2	colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:33.26
		colspan=4 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:34.76

Para-Nordic Skiing

Para-Nordic skiing includes both biathlon (a mix of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting) and cross-country skiing.

Skiers

Martin Fleig and Anja Wicker were both part of the German team at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. Before the 2018 Games, many people thought they could win medals. Anja Wicker had already won two medals in biathlon at previous Paralympic Games.

Clara Klug is blind and competed in her first Paralympic Games in 2018. Before going to Pyeongchang, Anja Wicker gave Clara Klug advice about competing at the Paralympics.

Andrea Eskau is a very experienced athlete. Before South Korea, she had already been to five Paralympic Games. She competed in cycling at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics. She also competed in para-Nordic skiing at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 Winter Paralympics.

Schedule and Results

On March 12, the 15 km cross-country race took place for standing and visually impaired women. On March 14, the sprint classic qualification races were held for all classes, followed by semifinals and finals in the afternoon. The classic race was on March 17.

Biathlon

Here are some of the biathlon results for German athletes:

Cross-country Skiing

In the women's 12 km sitting cross-country race, Andrea Eskau of Germany won a silver medal.

Athlete	Class	Event	Final
			Real time	Calculated time	Rank
Andrea Eskau	LW11	12 km, sitting	41:16.9	38:48.3

Wheelchair Curling

The German wheelchair curling team started playing their games on March 10. They played against Sweden on March 13.

Here is a look at the German team's schedule and some results in the group stage:

Team	Group stage												Tiebreaker	Semifinal	Final / BM
	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Christiane Putzich Harry Pavel Martin Schlitt Heike Melchior Wolf Meissner	NPA W 9–4	USA W 6–4	CHN	SVK	KOR	SWE	NOR	GBR	SUI	CAN	FIN

See also

In Spanish: Alemania en los Juegos Paralímpicos de Pyeongchang 2018 para niños