From PBS NewsHour.

The Winter Paralympic Games are here.

Fifty years after the first Paralympics were held in Sweden in 1976, this year’s competition in Italy will feature a record-breaking 655 athletes, representing 50 nations across six sports.

Sixty-eight athletes from the U.S. are expected to compete.

As often happens with international sporting events, geo-political crisis and controversy loom. Israel and Iran are planning to send an athlete each to the Games in the wake of joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran. And athletes from Russia and Belarus can compete under their countries’ flags for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

PBS News breaks down what you need to know about the Paralympics ahead of the opening ceremony March 6.

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