The difference between open relay and hybrid relay

There must be at least one female athlete in the mixed relay, and there is no gender restriction in the open relay.

Cross-country skiing in Paralympic Games is the most extensive winter sport for disabled people. There are 20 cross-country skiing events in Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, including short distance, medium distance and long distance, as well as mixed relay and open relay. Among them, individual events are divided into three groups according to the disability of athletes: visual impairment, standing posture and sitting posture. The actual competition results of athletes in each group are multiplied by the corresponding scoring coefficient as the final competition results. The starting order of individual events is generally sitting group, visually impaired group and standing group, and men are usually in front of women. All competitions start at intervals, and the starting order is determined by the lottery, scoring system, ranking and qualification system. In the relay race, each team can have 2 to 4 athletes. The first and third are traditional technology tracks, and the second and fourth are free technology tracks. There must be at least one female athlete in the mixed relay, and there is no gender restriction in the open relay.

The cross-country skiing competition route of Paralympic Games requires uphill, downhill and undulating, each accounting for about one third. Traditional technology track needs to suppress special snow slots, while free technology track needs to be wide and flat. Relay events require athletes to alternately adopt traditional techniques and free techniques. In the competition, standing athletes can use two strokes, one stroke or not according to their physical condition. Blind or almost blind athletes need to wear blindfolds, and the team leader skaters use loudspeakers to guide and cooperate to complete the competition; Athletes with low vision can choose whether to use the team leader or not.