The pair had both competed at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics in the SB LL-1 classification where Huckaby, an above-knee amputee, won gold in banked slalom and snowboard cross. 

Hernandez, who has suffered from multiple sclerosis since 2002, won silver in the banked slalom and bronze in snowboard cross at the same Games.

Before Beijing 2022, both were told that the category would not be included because there were too few entries.

In December, both had signed a letter from a group of Paralympians to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) asking for a change of heart.

Their application to be admitted in the SB-LL2 class was rejected by the IPC.

The pair then took legal counsel from German lawyer Christof Wieschemann of the Wieschemann Rechtsanwälte legal practice in Bochum.

In preliminary injunction proceedings before the antitrust divisions of the Regional Court of Cologne and the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, Wieschemann was able to enforce his clients' right to participate in the SB-LL2 class.

The LL1 classification is for athletes with a "significant impairment in one leg", while the LL2 is for those with "an impairment in one or two legs with less activity limitation".

Supporters of Huckaby and Hernandez insist they have a higher degree of impairment than their new rivals in the LL2 class.

At Beijing 2022, Huckaby won gold in banked slalom.

She also took bronze in the snowboard cross behind gold medallist Hernandez.

Canadian and Chinese officials had lodged protests against the participation of the pair, and the long-running legal saga is due to resume this week.

Wieschemann had argued that other competitors in the category were not put at a disadvantage by the participation of the pair.

The IPC has argued that the classification system for the Games had not been correctly understood.

It has declined to comment with legal proceedings ongoing.