Aotearoa will have no para athletes featured in Friday night's Beijing Games opening ceremony, Paralympics New Zealand have announced.
Paralympics NZ confirmed the news on Friday evening, while Adam Hall had been recognised as Hāpai Kara for the campaign, neither he or the other two Kiwi athletes attending will attend the ceremony overnight.
"The three New Zealand para athletes won’t be present as they compete the next morning," Paralympics NZ said.
"New Zealand will be represented at the Opening Ceremony in the National Stadium in Beijing by two non-athlete team members."
With the ceremony removed from the schedule, Paralympics NZ said the team in Beijing will instead come together on Friday evening in the Yanqing Paralympic Village to view messages of support from back home.
The team would also acknowledge Hall's appointment as Hāpai Kara - the leadership role given out for Kiwi Paralympic campaigns - Friday evening.
Adam Hall had been recognised as Hāpai Kara for the campaign though. (Source: 1News)
"It is an honour and a privilege to be part of this winter Paralympic team, which has broken through many challenges and trained extremely hard to represent our country on the world stage here in Beijing," Hall said ahead of his fifth Paralympics.
“As a whole team, we look forward to the opportunity over the coming days to put into fruition our journey of training and challenges which have led us to this point. An opportunity only once every four years where we get to show the nation and the world what it is that we do."
Chef de Mission Jane Stevens said Hall's appointment made perfect sense.
"Adam truly is a role model for this NZ Paralympic Team and all the other aspiring athletes in New Zealand," she said.
"In the many years I have known him, he has shown himself to be the embodiment of the Paralympic values: courage, determination, inspiration, and equality.
He’s also a phenomenal athlete – I can’t wait to see him compete tomorrow!”
Hall, along with fellow alpine skiers Corey Peters and Aaron Ewen, all compete on Saturday.
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