As the 2026 Winter Paralympics approach in Milan, Italy, wheelchair athletes from Georgia and Canada are preparing with excitement. Local curlers highlight the sport's inclusivity and strategic demands. Team Canada's Jon Thurston received a sendoff from his club ahead of the competition.
The 2026 Winter Paralympics, set to take place in Milan, Italy, have sparked enthusiasm among wheelchair curlers worldwide. In Marietta, Georgia, at the Peachtree Curling Association, Seann Timberlake, a T10 paraplegic and traumatic brain injury patient, shared his passion for the sport. Timberlake started curling in 2019 and now travels internationally for competitions. "There's young people, there's old people, there's big people, little people, at all races. It's a good sport. I came out and never stopped," he said.
Wheelchair curling employs the same 40-pound granite stones as traditional curling but uses a delivery stick for pushing and spinning the stone, without sweeping the ice. "We use a stick. Which we put on the stone, you push it, and it spins the stone. Once you try it, you know, you see it's not that easy," Timberlake explained. He emphasized the sport's accessibility: "The ice is the equalizer for any ability." Each game demands strategy, as "every game is different. Every ice is different."
The sport debuted in the Paralympics in 2006 and has grown, providing opportunities for athletes with lower-body disabilities. Timberlake noted its personal impact: "It gives me something to do, meet new people. I've got to travel all over the world now, curling." Local athletes draw inspiration from the upcoming events in Italy.
In Peterborough, Canada, the local curling club held a reception on Monday for Jon Thurston, who will compete with Team Canada's wheelchair curling team at the Paralympics. The sendoff celebrated his journey to the international stage.
