The 2026 winter paralympics kick off this week in milan cortina, italy, marking the 50th anniversary of the first paralympic winter games. Over 600 athletes from around the world will compete across six sports for 79 medals, with competition starting march 4 and the opening ceremony on march 6. The games feature venues in milan, cortina d'ampezzo and tesero.
The milan cortina 2026 winter paralympics follow the olympics, with events spread across northern italy. Three clusters host the competitions: milan for para ice hockey, cortina d'ampezzo for para alpine skiing, para snowboard and wheelchair curling, and tesero for para biathlon and para cross-country skiing. The opening ceremony takes place at the verona olympic arena on march 6, and the closing at the cortina curling olympic stadium on march 15.
Six sports are on the program: para alpine skiing, para biathlon, para cross-country skiing, para ice hockey, para snowboard and wheelchair curling. Para alpine skiing at the tofane centre from march 7-15 includes 30 events in disciplines like downhill, super-g, slalom, giant slalom and super combined, categorized by sitting, standing and visually impaired (vi) athletes. Para biathlon at tesero from march 7-13 combines skiing and shooting, with categories matching alpine skiing; visually impaired athletes use acoustic signals for targeting.
Para cross-country skiing at tesero from march 10-15 offers 20 medals in 10km, 20km and 1.5km sprint races, plus mixed and open relays, achieving distance parity between men and women for the first time. Para ice hockey at milan from march 7-15 involves eight teams—canada, china, czech republic, germany, italy, japan, slovakia and the u.s.—in a group stage followed by knockouts. Para snowboard at cortina on march 7-8 and 14 features eight events in banked slalom and snowboard cross, classified by upper- or lower-limb impairments.
Wheelchair curling at cortina from march 4-14 debuts mixed doubles alongside the mixed team event, with ten nations competing; china seeks a third straight team gold. Notable athletes include u.s. star oksana masters, seeking more of her 14 medals, italy's giacomo bertagnolli, an eight-time medalist, and great britain's menna fitzpatrick with six prior medals. The mascot is milo, a brown stoat born without a paw.
