On 21 February, President of Latvia Egils Levits and Mrs Andra Levite hosted the official send-off ceremony at the Riga Castle for the Latvian Paralympic delegation and Latvian wheelchair curling team members Poļina Rožkova and Ojārs Briedis who have been chosen as Latvian Paralympic Team flag bearers for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
President of Latvia Egils Levits stressed that the return of Latvian national squad to the winter Paralympics is a major success. ‘You worked hard to get to the Winter Paralympics and now you are going to Beijing. This, of course, took a lot of effort, and focus, but you made it. We will be sending all our good thoughts to you. We will cheer for you here in Latvia and will get up in the middle of the night to see you make those decisive games,’ President Levits said.
‘Many people believe they know and understand how to do things and would be capable of achieving a lot in record times. But, as the ancient wisdom teaches, genuine expertise and well-deserved victories come from serious training and relentless practice. I hope you will win medals and ranks that you deserve and expect given the time and effort you have put into this. I also wish you lots of positive emotions and strong motivation to keep going in terms of your athletic ambitions, as well as big and small everyday obstacles you must overcome,’ said Patroness of the Latvian Paralympic Movement Andra Levite to cheer the athletes up.
Beijing Paralympic Winter Games will take place on 4-13 March 2022. Latvia will return to the Winter Paralympics with its team sports squad, the Latvian Wheelchair Curling Team of 8 athletes, after 16 years.