Milano Cortina 2026: Winter Paralympics return to Europe
- European Paralympic Committee
- 45 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The stage is set for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics which get underway on Friday (6 March), marking the latest edition in Europe and 50 years after the first edition took place in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden in 1976.
Para athletes from a record 55 National Paralympic Committees will compete for 79 sets of medals on the snow and ice in venues across Italy, taking in some of the most iconic and awe-inspiring sites in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Milan and Val di Fiemme.
Thirty-five European nations are amongst those to have qualified athletes, including North Macedonia, Montenegro and Portugal who will make their winter Paralympic debut at this edition.
A record number of 612 athletes in total will compete in Para alpine skiing, Para snowboard, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey and wheelchair curling, representing a tripling of the numbers first seen at Ornskoldsvik 1976.
Their number will include multiple Paralympic medallists from the last winter Paralympics at Beijing 2022 from European countries.
Norwegian sit-skier Jesper Pedersen is a one to watch in Para alpine skiing having claimed four golds and one silver four years ago. And Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova stunned in the women’s biathlon and cross-country skiing, leaving with three golds and two silvers from the women’s vision impaired category.
In the wheelchair curling, Sweden return as the silver medallists from the mixed team and will be joined by Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Great Britain and Italy whilst in Para ice hockey, Italy, Czechia, Germany and Slovakia will go for the podium.
Hosts Italy have high hopes for home medals in multiple sports. Giacomo Bertagnolli, guided by Andrea Ravelli, will be aiming to add to his career-haul of eight Paralympic medals in front of his home crowds in Para alpine skiing.
In Para snowboard, Jacopo Luchini, a seven-time World Cup podium finisher this season, and Emanuel Perathoner, an Olympian who won all but one of his 10 races in the men’s SBLL-2, will proudly fly the flag.
The European Paralympic Committee also sends its best wishes to its Athletes’ Council members, Austrian alpine skier Markus Salcher, Dutch sit-skier Barbara van Bergen and Swedish wheelchair curler Ronny Persson, who will all line-up at Milano Cortina 2026.
In recognition and support of all its National Paralympic Committee Members at Milano Cortina 2026 and in light of recent developments around participation, the European Paralympic Committee published a statement on social media sending them and their athletes the very best wishes for the Games. This also highlighted the need to continue discussions after the winter Paralympic Games have finished, due to concerns around the qualification pathway for LA 2028 and other future Paralympics.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games open on 6 March and run until 15 March.
Comments