India, March 7 -- The International Paralympic Committee is celebrating the biggest ever Paralympic Winter Games in history and a record female participation at Milan Cortina.

The Games will officially kick off on Friday with an opening ceremony that is set to be boycotted by some nations because of the return of the Russian flag and national anthem to the global stage.

The IPC said on Thursday that a record number of 56 nations are bringing 616 athletes to compete across 79 medal events in six sports, surpassing the previous record of 564 athletes from 49 nations at PyeongChang 2018.

Among the nations set to participate at Milan Cortina is Iran despite the intensifying war with the United States and Israel. Para cross-country skier Ab...