Over 600 athletes will compete across nearly 80 medal events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, which will officially commence on 6th March.

Six sports will feature at the games, with ParalympicsGB having representation in four of those sports across the 12 days of Paralympic action.

Overview of the 2026 Winter Paralympic games

The 2026 Paralympic Games in Italy, who are hosting the games for the second time in history, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first-ever Paralympic Winter Games.

Around 665 athletes from an expected 55 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) will compete in 79 medal events at the Milano Cortina games.

The wheelchair curling mixed doubles, which will take place from 4th to 11th March, is the only new event at this year’s Winter Paralympics.

Who will compete for ParalympicsGB?

25 athletes have been selected to represent ParalympicsGB at the Milano Cortina Paralympics across four sports: Para Alpine Skiing, Para Nordic Skiing, Para Snowboard and Wheelchair Curling.

Great Britain’s most decorated winter Paralympian, six-time medallist Menna Fitzpatrick, will line up alongside numerous debutants at Milano Cortina, including three teenagers who feature across the Para Alpine events.

History will be made at the games as Nina Sparks will become ParalympicsGB’s first-ever female snowboarder, whilst Davy Zyw is believed to be the first snowsport athlete with motor neurone disease (MND) to compete at the games.

What to expect from Great Britain’s athletes at the games
ParalympicsGB’s best performance at a Winter Paralympics came in 1984 (Innsbruck) when they won 10 medals; however, at the latest games, 2022 Beijing, their athletes won a total of 6 medals (1 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze).

Great Britain has also never won more than 1 gold medal at a single Winter Paralympic Games, with ParalympicsGB’s only golds coming at Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022.

Jo Butterfield, who will compete in the wheelchair curling mixed doubles with Jason Kean, will be looking to become the first British athlete to win gold at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics after she won club throw gold at Rio 2016.

Neil Simpson, alongside his brother and guide Andrew Simpson, will seek to retain his historical 2022 Winter Paralympic title in the Men’s Super-G event.

How the games will take place

The opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics will be held on 6th February, two days after the wheelchair curling events commence, with the first official day of action taking place the day after.

The action from the action will then continue until the 15th of February, which will then see the closing ceremony take place after the final medals of the games are handed out in Para Alpine Skiing, Para Cross-Country Skiing and Para Ice Hockey.