Opening ceremonies are taking place Friday night for the Paralympic Nordic Ski World Championships in Cable, Wisconsin.
Events include sprint and distance cross country ski races, and biathlon that combines skiing and target shooting.
Event support chief and Cable Chamber of Commerce Director James Bolen is expecting thousands of spectators this weekend.
“It’s going to be an extremely busy 10 days. So there’s a lot of people around, there’s a lot of traffic. We have about 20 countries here competing, so you see a lot of national flags and team jackets and stuff – it’s a really cool international event.”
Athletes from 20 different countries will compete in categories dependent on their impairment, which range from arm or leg impairment to visual impairment.
Cable regularly draws crowds of thousands for events like the American Birkebeiner.
But Bolen says logistics for the World Championship event are more complex.
“We’re used to moving crowds around and parking and issues like that, but we’re not used to hosting an event of this stature with all the technical requirements. So a lot of our time is going into those efforts.”
The event wraps up Sunday February 1.