More than 600 athletes compete in six sports, performing at their best on ice and snow.
That's what International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons expects in just 100 days when the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games begin in Italy. The Cortina Winter Paralympic Games in Milan will take place from 6 to 15 March.
“We will see athletes challenging everything that people think is possible, e.g. [visually impaired] skiers going down a hill at 100 kilometers an hour, the ability to play Paralympic hockey, the precision of wheelchair curling,” Parsons told CBC Sports. “And we'll see it in stunning landscapes, like the Dolomites as a backdrop. Just incredible places.”
Next year's games will mark the 50th anniversary of the first Paralympic Winter Games in 1976 in Sweden. For the world's top winter Paralympians, it also means the return of fans after pandemic restrictions prevented them from traveling to Beijing in 2022.
“Being able to bring this back again means a lot to us,” said Parsons, who has been IPC president since 2017. “We had a very good experience in Pyeongchang eight years ago and now it’s time for this new generation of athletes to compete in front of a good crowd.”
Andrew Parsons marks 100 days until he goes to the Paralympics.
Athletes will compete for 79 medals in six different sports: Paralympic alpine skiing, Paralympic biathlon, Paralympic cross-country skiing, Paralympic hockey, Paralympic snowboarding and wheelchair curling.
A new medal event debuts in Italy: mixed doubles wheelchair curling.
Beyond the growth of each sport over the past few years, what Parsons is most proud of is how the Paralympics can be a platform for inclusivity.
“Sport is the element that drives this change, so the sport needs to be of the highest quality to get people interested in Paralympic sport,” Parson said. “I think we will see it in Milan, Cortina. We will see great sport on a global platform and this will promote the rights of people with disabilities.”
The numbers bear this out: a study commissioned by the IPC and published this summer found that the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris “have caused a major shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities and are now considered one of the most recognized sporting events on earth.”
Researchers surveyed more than 15,000 people in 11 countries before and after the Paralympic Games and found that 79 percent of those surveyed said the Games “made them more welcoming to the inclusion of people with disabilities in all areas of society,” according to the IPC.
Markou will become an honorary captain
In Italy, Team Canada will be led by six-time Paralympic medalist and retired alpine skier Mac Marcoux, who will serve as honorary captain of the team.
Marcou, originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., will be joined by five captains expected to compete in Italy: Ina Forrest (Spallumcheen, BC/Wheelchair Curling), Alexis Guimond (Gatineau, QC/Para Skiing), Brittany Hudak (Prince Albert, Sask./Para Skiing), Tyler McGregor (Forest, ON/Para Hockey) and Tyler Turner (Campbell River, Sask.) BC/Pair snowboard).
CBC Sports' Brittany McLean Campbell spoke with two-time Paralympic gold medalist Mac Marcoux and asked him all things Paralympic, including what he will tell athletes ahead of the Cortina Games in Milan in 2026.
Mark's advice to Canadian athletes competing in Italy is to enjoy every moment, including the journey that brought them there.
“To me, success looks like leaving games with no regrets, no matter what the results are,” CBC Sports' Brittany McLean Campbell told Mark. “Going there, leaving everything on the table in terms of competition, but also just really hoping that everyone really enjoys the experience.”
There will be a financial incentive to finish on the podium in Italy. The Canadian Paralympic Committee's Paralympic Recognition Program pays $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for a silver and $10,000 for a bronze. The first payments were awarded for performances in Paris in 2024.
“I welcome the initiative [Canadian Paralympic Committee] initiative and I would like to see more National Paralympic Committees offering or being able to offer this,” Parsons said.
Women's Paralympic Hockey on the Horizon
In the future, Parsons would like to see the Paralympics expand to include speed skating. He said the IPC plans to work with the International Skating Union (ISU) to develop these sports.
The introduction of women's Paralympic ice hockey into the Paralympic Games is on the horizon. Paralympic hockey is technically a mixed sport at Paralympic level, but very few women have ever competed. There has never been a woman on Team Canada.
Women's Paralympic hockey just held its first world championship in Slovakia earlier this year, where the United States defeated Canada 7-1 in the final. Parsons was at the tournament.
Andrew Parsons says women's ice hockey “will become a Paralympic sport”.
“We'll definitely see women's Para hockey at the Paralympics soon,” Parsons said. “If it happens in 2030 or 2034, there are so many things that will impact it. I'd like to see it in 2030.”
That includes more countries competing at the sport's highest level and a more stable international calendar, Parsons said. According to IPC rules, inclusion of a team sport in the Paralympic program requires a minimum of eight countries and three IPC regions where the sport is widely played.
In Canada, the women's para hockey team is not funded as a high-performance program like the men's para hockey team.
In the statement posted by CBC Sports' Shirin Ahmed last weekHockey Canada spokesman Spencer Sharkey pointed to Hockey Canada's mandate from the federal government “to manage national teams that compete internationally for sanctioned world championships and participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.” Sport Canada has not yet responded to questions from CBC Sports about funding the women's Paralympic hockey team.
“We continue to work closely with World Para Hockey and the International Paralympic Committee as they move forward with the inclusion of Women's Para Hockey in the Paralympic Games,” Sharkey said.
In the meantime, Sharkey said, Hockey Canada has provided the team with funding through the Hockey Canada Foundation ($150,000 this season) and provided them with gear and gear ahead of this year's World Cup.
This sport is in a catch-22 situation. It needs to grow before it can get more funding, but how can the sport grow without more support?
“I spoke to the Canadian team in Slovakia and was surprised when they told me [about] let's say the structure that is available to them for team training and that the national federation was not directly involved in it,” Parsons said.
He said he would like to see more hockey federations around the world, including Hockey Canada, funding both men's and women's para hockey teams.
Raphaëlle Tousignant became the first woman to compete for Canada's mixed Paralympic hockey team in 2023. Despite his breast cancer diagnosis, Tousignant still hopes to make the team for the 2026 Paralympics.
“We have sent a clear signal that we are on track to include women's Paralympic hockey, if not in 2030, then at least in 2034,” Parsons said. “If that's an excuse or justification, then it should be taken out of the discussion now. This is going to be a Paralympic sport. So the sooner you invest in this sport, the better chance you have of achieving success for your team, if not in the French Alps, then certainly in Salt Lake City.”
Controversial vote
Paralympians from Russia or Belarus will not compete when the Games open in March, but not because of the IPC ban.
The IPC General Assembly voted to lift the partial disqualification. for both countries earlier this year. Apparently, athletes from Russia or Belarus will not take part in the competition, mainly due to bans from individual sports federations.
“There were 177 member organizations there and the majority accepted that decision,” Parsons said of the vote to overturn the suspension. “Obviously, I can't speak on behalf of everyone who voted for or against this decision. But an important element of the discussion was why only Russia and Belarus, when we have so many other conflicts in the world?”
He said the initial suspension was not because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but because both countries were “using the Paralympics to promote invasion, to promote war.”
Asked how the decision fits with the IPC's goal of using the Paralympics as a platform for human rights, Parsons said he understood both sides of the vote.
“Before the decision was made, the President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee spoke out strongly against the decision of our General Assembly. [to lift the suspensions]”,” Parsons said. “So I see that there are a lot of different reasons why people made this decision, and I also understand why people say it goes against what we stand for when we make decisions like this.”
More recently, the IPC's decision was criticized by more than 30 countries, mostly from Europe, which signed a joint letter expressing “serious concerns” about lifting the partial suspension, according to a report this week by Sky News in the UK.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus can compete at next year's Winter Olympics, but not under their country's flag. They will compete as individual neutral athletes and only after being vetted to ensure they do not support the war in Ukraine.
