The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games will feature Para alpine skiing at the historic Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Athletes from 43 countries will compete in 30 medal events across five disciplines and three categories. Defending champions and debutants prepare for challenging slopes amid records in participation.
The 14th Paralympic Winter Games, marking the 50th anniversary since the first in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, begin on March 6, 2026, in Italy, hosting for the second time after Torino 2006. Para alpine skiing, one of three FIS disciplines alongside Para cross-country skiing and Para snowboard, will account for a significant portion of the 79 total medal events, with around 80% in FIS sports.
At the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, skiers will tackle downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and alpine combined in sitting, standing, and vision impaired categories. The venue, famed for its steep Tofana Schuss section, hosted men's alpine trials at the 1956 Cortina Olympics. Austria leads the all-time Para alpine medal table with 94 golds, but challengers from Europe, Asia, and the Americas aim to compete.
In the vision impaired category, Austria's Johannes Aigner, 20, defends his Beijing 2022 downhill title and eyes medals in all five events, facing Italian Giacomo Bertagnolli, who won the 2024 test event and seeks a home sweep. "It’s not the easiest downhill run, and I think that makes it so exciting," Aigner said. His sister Veronika, a two-time Beijing gold medallist in giant slalom and slalom, will compete without guide Elisabeth due to her knee injury, as the Austrian committee considers a replacement.
France's Arthur Bauchet targets more standing category golds after three in Beijing, while Norway's Jesper Pedersen, with five golds, leads the sitting men against Dutch rival Jeroen Kampschreur. Japan's Momoka Muraoka, recovering from a November collarbone fracture, defends three sitting titles against Germany's Anna-Lena Forster.
Debuts include Haiti's Ralf Etienne in men's giant slalom standing, a survivor of the 2010 earthquake who became an investment banker. "It's basically a story of rubble in 2010 to the summit in 2026," Etienne said. Overall, 612 athletes from a record 56 NPCs will compete, including five debutant nations: El Salvador, Haiti, North Macedonia, Portugal, and Montenegro.
Race director Anja Skutelj anticipates thrilling action on the iconic course, smoothed for Para needs. The schedule starts with downhill on March 7, followed by super-G on March 9, and concludes with men's slalom on March 15.
