Paralympics: Italian party spirit reigns as crowds return to Winter Games

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy - While the athletes striving to turn countless hours of practice into gold, silver or bronze provide the spectacle at the Winter Paralympics, the crowds of fans, roaring from the sidelines, add an emotional dimension to the drama.

The Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics that kicked off Friday across northern Italy mark the full return of spectators for the first time in eight years, after the 2022 Beijing Games, held during the COVID-19 pandemic, banned attendees from overseas and limited athletes' contact with the outside world.