The application for skeleton to be included on the programme was not successful though, due to the sport not fulfilling a number of the criteria needed.

Bobsleigh will line-up alongside the six existing Paralympic winter sports - Alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey, snowboard and wheelchair curling - which were formally approved by the IPC Governing Board today to be part of the programme for Beijing 2022. 

For bobsleigh to be given full approval for inclusion in Beijing 2022, the sport must meet a number of minimum requirements laid out by the IPC Governing Board in both the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons.

In each of the two seasons, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) must organise at least six World Cup races plus a World Championships.

A minimum of 12 countries from at least three regions should also participate each year.

The decision is subject to final written approval by both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee.

"I would like to congratulate the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation after bobsleigh was provisionally accepted to be part of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games," said IPC President Sir Philip Craven.

"As a relatively young and growing sport within the Paralympic Movement, bobsleigh currently does not fulfil all the criteria required for full inclusion in the Games which is why we have stipulated a number of measures for the sport to meet over the coming years.

"We are always looking to freshen up the Paralympic sports programme and grow the size and scale of the Winter Games.

"Providing the IBSF can meet the conditions we have outlined then bobsleigh will be a welcome addition to the Games in 2022."

The IBSF’s Para-sport Committee was founded in 2010 and immediately began work on acceptance of bobsleigh and skeleton on the programme of the Winter Paralympics. 

In 2014, the IPC awarded the IBSF the status of Recognised International Sport Federation. 

The first official IBSF Para-sport World Cup was held in the 2014-2015 season, while the first IBSF Para-sport World Championships took place in Park City in the United States this year.  

For the 2016-2017 season, the IBSF has scheduled six races in the Para-sport World Cup as well as the Para-sport World Championships in the Swiss village of St. Moritz.

"We are thrilled by today's decision of the IPC to accept bobsleigh in the Paralympic programme - this shows the excellent work the IBSF has done in the past five years in preparing this sport for inclusion in the Paralympic sports programme," said IBSF President Ivo Ferriani.

"I want to thank our Para-sport Committee for their great commitment, but above all I want to thank our Para-sport athletes for their passion to perform our sports. 

"At the same time today we were informed that the IPC did not accept our application for skeleton to be integrated in the Paralympic Games which is a great disappointment for all our Para-skeleton athletes and the IBSF itself.

"But the IBSF is fully committed to work closely with the IPC to further develop Para-skeleton, and we will apply again at the earliest appropriate opportunity."

In October of last year, insidethegames exclusively revealed the IBSF's intentions to submit a bid to have Para-bobsleigh and Para-skeleton included on the Winter Paralympic programme at Beijing 2022.

The IPC set a limit of seven sports for Beijing 2022, one higher than that for Pyeongchang 2018, raising the prospect of another sport being added to the Winter Paralympics.

The IBSF were widely expected to launch a bid as they were the only other IPC-Recognised Winter Sports Federation other than the six already on the Programme.

IOC member and two-time skeleton Olympian Adam Pengilly had told insidethegames in December 2014 that the IBSF were "very optimistic" of having a strong candidature and having their bid ready for 2022.

They had originally targeted Pyeongchang 2018 and, although the IPC put the brakes on this enthusiasm, Sir Philip suggested it "could be a Paralympic sport in the future".