Snowboarder Owen Pick led out the Great Britain team at the opening ceremony for the Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang.

The 26-year-old former World Championship silver medallist had his leg amputated while serving with the British Army in Afghanistan eight years ago.

Paralympics
A spectacular firework display heralded the start of the Winter Paralympics (Adam Davy/PA)

The British team also includes partially-sighted skier Kelly Gallagher, who made history by becoming Britain’s first Winter Paralympic champion in Sochi four years ago.

A spectacular firework display over Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium heralded the opening of the biggest Winter Paralympics yet, with a record 567 athletes from 48 countries taking part.

In addition, athletes from Russia will also take part under the banner of ‘neutral Paralympic athletes’ after their nation failed to satisfy the International Paralympic Committee over doping concerns.

Unlike at the recent Winter Olympics, South Korea and North Korea marched separately at Friday’s ceremony, after failing to resolve their differences concerning the precise nature of the proposed Korean unification flag.

Owen Pick
Snowboarder Owen Pick was Great Britain’s flag bearer (Adam Davy/PA)

The Paralympic cauldron was lit by Seo Soonseok, the skip of South Korea’s men’s wheelchair curling team, who had been handed the flame by one of the stars of the Winter Olympics, silver medal-winning women’s curling skip Kim EunJung.

Athletes will compete for medals in six Paralympic sports – alpine skiing, snowboarding, Para-ice hockey, wheelchair curling and nordic skiing.