"Since the Winter Paralympics will be contested at home, our athletes are preparing for the competition to show their best-ever performance," said Park Hye-eun, the Paralympics team manager at the KPC. "We expect to see the country's first gold medal in wheelchair curling or Nordic skiing."

The countdown to the first Winter Paralympics to be held in South Korea will reach one year Thursday, with homegrown athletes eyeing the country's first gold medal at the multisport competition for disabled athletes.

PyeongChang, an alpine resort town some 180 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province, will host the country's first Winter Paralympics from March 9 to 18 next year, under the slogan "Passion. Connected."

The event follows the Winter Olympics that will be staged from Feb. 9 to 25.

The Winter Paralympic Games will take place at the same venues as the Winter Olympics. The opening and closing ceremonies, as well as most snow sports, will be staged in PyeongChang, while alpine skiing events will be contested in Jeongseon, some 215 kilometers east of Seoul.

Gangneung, the coastal city in Gangwon Province, will host all ice sports during the Paralympics.

The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games estimates some 50 countries will send about 1,700 athletes and officials to take part in its Paralympics. They will vie for 80 gold medals at stake in six sports.

At the PyeongChang Paralympics, 78 gold medals are up for grabs in four snow sports -- para alpine skiing, para snowboard, para biathlon and para cross-country skiing. Two ice sports -- para ice hockey and wheelchair curling -- offer one gold medal each.

Host South Korea plans to send its athletes to all six sports.

Although the qualification process runs until June, pundits expect about 40 to 45 local Paralympians will compete.

South Korea aims to finish inside the top 10 with four medals, including one gold, at the Winter Paralympics at home. The country has so far collected only two silver medals in the seven Winter Paralympic and has yet to win a gold medal.

Alpine skier Han Sang-min became the first South Korean to claim a Winter Paralympic medal in 2002, when he took silver in giant slalom LW12. The national wheelchair curling team also won silver in 2010.

The Korea Paralympic Committee said with home-field advantage, the PyeongChang Paralympics is a great opportunity for South Korean athletes to show their best performances. The athletes will first check their skills by competing at the Paralympic test events. (Yonhap)