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Meet Minnesota's Paralympics athletes competing at the 2022 games

The 2022 Winter Paralympics features six sports in Beijing, China from March 4-13.
Credit: KARE

BEIJING, China — The competition continues in Beijing, China in March with the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

The Paralympic Winter Games begin Friday, March 4 and run through Sunday, March 13, featuring more than 700 athletes competing in 78 medal events across six sports.

Paralympics sports in 2022 including alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, sled hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling. NBC Sports will provide coverage of the games on NBC, USA Network and the NBCOlympics.com website. Click here to find the full schedule of event broadcasts and live streams.

The U.S. will send 67 athletes to compete in the Winter Paralympics, including five from Minnesota:

NORDIC SKIING

Max Nelson

Nelson made history last year in high school competition in Minnesota, when he became the first visually-impaired Nordic skier to win a conference title. He's already competed at the World Cup level, and will be the youngest member of the 2022 U.S. Paralympics Nordic skiing team.

Sydney Peterson

Sydney Peterson, a Stillwater High School grad, qualified for her first Paralympics in 2022. Peterson previously won two silver medals and a bronze medal at the 2021 world championships.

Aaron Pike

  • Age: 35
  • Hometown: Park Rapids
  • Bio: Team USA

Aaron Pike is a six-time Paralympian, competing in both summer and winter games since 2012. He's previously competed in cross-country skiing and biathlon in the Winter Paralympics, as well as track and field events in the summer games. A world championship medalist (silver in the individual biathlon in 2021 and bronze in the 2019 individual sprint), Pike will compete in sit skiing in Beijing in 2022.

Credit: AP
Aaron Pike of United States competes in the Biathlon Men's 15km Sitting event during the 2018 Winter Paralympics at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

SNOWBOARDING

Mike Schultz

Mike Schultz is competing in his second Winter Paralympics in Beijing. He won two medals at the PyeongChang games in 2019 (one gold in snowboardcross, one silver in banked slalom). He's also won three medals in world championship competition.

Credit: AP
Silver medal winner Mike Schultz of the United States competes in the men's snowboard banked slalom sb-ll1 at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Jeongseon, South Korea, Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

WHEELCHAIR CURLING

Batoyun "Oyuna" Uranchimeg

  • Age: 48
  • Hometown: Burnsville
  • Bio: Team USA

Batoyun Uranchimeg is participating in her first Paralympics as a lead on the U.S. women's wheelchair curling team. A curler since 2016, Uranchimeg also has world championship experience, finishing fourth in 2021.

Credit: AP
Pamela Wilson, left, and Batoyun Uranchimeg of the United States react after defeating Canada in their semifinal match at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship, a test event for the 2022 Winter Olympics, held at the Beijing National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube, in Beijing, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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