The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports.

Medals are awarded in each event: with gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games began in 1904.

This system has also given rise to controversy and opened the door for various forms of cheating, which has tainted the integrity of the Games.

Injured soldiers returning from World War II sought sports as an avenue to healing.

[2] Sepp Zwicknagl, a pioneer of snow sports for disabled athletes, was a double-leg amputee Austrian skier who experimented skiing using prosthetics.

His work helped pioneer technological advances for people with disabilities who wished to participate in winter sports.

[8] One concern now facing Paralympic officials is the technique of boosting blood pressure, known as autonomic dysreflexia.

The increase in blood pressure can improve performance by 15% and is most effective in the endurance sports such as cross-country skiing.

This trauma can include breaking bones, strapping extremities in too tightly and using high-pressured compression stockings.

[10] On 7 August 2016, the IPC's Governing Board voted unanimously to ban the entire Russian team from the 2016 Summer Paralympics, citing the Russian Paralympic Committee's inability to enforce the IPC's Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code which is "a fundamental constitutional requirement".

[10] IPC President Sir Philip Craven stated that the Russian government had "catastrophically failed its Para athletes".

The closest equivalents in non-disabled competitions are age classifications in junior sports, and weight divisions in wrestling, boxing, and weightlifting.

Alpine skiing accommodates athletes with the following physical limitations: spinal injury, Cerebral Palsy, amputation, Les Autres and blindness/visual impairment.

The divisions are defined by the degree of the athletes' function and the need for assistive equipment (prosthesis, ski poles, etc.).

The divisions are determined in a similar fashion to alpine skiing with attention given to the athletes' level of function and need for assistive devices.

The events were held in a time trial format, but no accommodation was made based on an athlete's level of impairment.

The snowboard cross event was run in a head-to-head format with multiple knockout heats to determine the medal winners.