For the fourth consecutive Paralympic Games, Team USA’s sled hockey squad is golden.
The red, white and blue capped off a dominant tournament with a 5-0 shutout victory over Team Canada on Sunday to earn the program’s fifth gold medal, and their fourth consecutive Paralympic gold.
Declan Farmer and Brody Roybal each scored twice, including a shorthanded goal apiece, in the victory. Josh Pauls scored the game’s other goal, and netminder Jen Lee secured the shutout, his third of the tournament, making 16 saves.
South Hadley’s Kyle Zych put one shot on goal and finished the game with a plus-one rating in the final game of his first Paralympic Games appearance.
USA got the scoring started in the first period. Farmer scored the team’s first shorthanded goal of the contest at the 9:08 mark to make it 1-0 USA. Just 25 seconds later, Roybal got the second shorty on the same penalty to double his team’s lead.
Pauls had the opportunity to give the US a 3-0 lead with a penalty shot early in the second, but wasn’t able to score. USA kept the pressure on despite the miss, and Roybal netted his second goal of the game 1:24 later. Pauls got redemption on the missed penalty shot with less than three minutes to go in the second, scoring to make it 4-0 heading into the second intermission.
Farmer made it 5-0 USA 57 seconds into the third period, putting the game firmly out of reach of Team Canada.Zych had three assists in the team’s 11-0 win over host China in the semifinal round.
The president of the International Paralympic Committee expressed “hopes for peace” as the Winter Paralympics closed Sunday but avoided mentioning Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The closing ceremony marked the end of an almost six-week run for international sports in the Chinese capital that began with the opening of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 4.
IPC President Andrew Parsons sounded a note of unity at the ceremony in the Olympic stadium after athletes from Russia and Belarus were expelled earlier.
“Differences here did not divide us,” Parsons said, speaking before an audience that included Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Through this unity we have hope. Hopes for inclusion, hopes for harmony and importantly hopes for peace,” Parsons said. “Humankind hopes to live in a world where dialogue prevails.”
The ceremony ended a run for Asia of hosting four of the last eight Olympics and Paralympics, starting with the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It’s unclear when sports’ largest stage will return to Asia.
The next Summer Olympics and Paralympics are in 2024 in Paris, followed by Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy in 2026, and Los Angeles in 2028 with the Summer Games.
The earliest return to Asia looks like the 2030 Winter Olympics with Sapporo, Japan, a top contender. It was the Winter Games host in 1972.
The Paralympics opened just eight days after Russia, aided by Belarus, invaded Ukraine.
The International Paralympic Committee, after declining to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes, reversed course and removed their 83 athletes — 71 from Russia and 12 from Belarus.
Ukraine, with only 20 athletes competing, finished second to China in the medal standings. Many overcame difficult journeys to make it and showed determination despite the war at home.
Parsons expressed horror at Russia’s attack on Ukraine in an impassioned speech at the Paralympics’ opening ceremony, with Xi attending.
Parts of Parsons’ speech were not translated by Chinese state TV and some of the audio was dropped. The IPC lodged a protest over what it said was likely censorship but was told the silence was caused by an unexplained glitch.
China has declined to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening of the Olympics on Feb. 4, one of the few major world leaders to attend with Xi also present.
The Winter Paralympics attracted just under 600 athletes, far fewer than the 2,900 who attended the Winter Olympics.
Both events were held under China’s severe COVID-19 restrictions, which required daily testing by athletes and others attending, with access limited to only hotels, venues and media centers.