Facts about Paralympic Sports

Para Alpine Skiing, Para Snowboard, Para Biathlon, Para Ice Hockey, Para Cross Country-Skiing and Wheelchair Curling … how much do you know about these sports?

On the occasion of Milano Cortina 2026, the 6 Winter Paralympic Sports and the 80 events related to them will be staged. The best athletes in the world will compete at Para Alpine Skiing, Para Snowboard, Para Biathlon, Para Ice Hockey, Para Cross Country-Skiing and Wheelchair Curling (relive all of Italy's gold medals at the Winter Paralympics). Here is a list with some fun facts about each of them. 

The golden siblings of Para Alpine Skiing

The Aigner siblings (Johannes, Veronika and Barbara) are three Austrian Paralympic athletes who, in Beijing 2022, won an impressive four Gold, three Silver and two Bronze, for a total of nine medals in a single edition of the Games in the same discipline (visually impaired category). When they say: “Keeping it in the family!”. Para Alpine Skiing has featured in all editions of the Paralympic Winter Games from Örnsköldsvik 1976 onwards.

The decans of Para Snowboard

The first in the history of the Winter Paralympic Games to win Gold in Para Snowboard were the Dutch Bibian Mentel-Spee for women and the American Evan Strong for men, both in the Snowboard Cross (standing category). Para Snowboarding made its debut at the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics, included in the Para Alpine Skiing program. The only event in that edition was the Snowboard Cross. At Pyeongchang 2018 it was recognised as an independent discipline and Banked Slalom was added to Snowboard Cross.

The most decorated in Para Cross Country Skiing

The most medal-winning Winter Paralympic athlete is a legend of Para Cross Country Skiing. Norway's Ragnhild Myklebust won 27 medals, including 22 gold, in Para Cross Country Skiing and Ice Sledge Speed ​​Racing. Para Cross Country Skiing is the only discipline, together with Para Alpine Skiing, to have been present since the 1976 Örnsköldsvik Winter Paralympics.

The Para Biathlon champion

Ukrainian Vitaliy Lukyanenko is one of the stars of this discipline. He was able to win at least one Gold in every edition from Turin 2006 to Beijing 2022, for a total of 8, in the visually impaired category. Para Biathlon made its debut at the Innsbruck 1988 Winter Paralympics.

Para Ice Hockey: stars and stripes

The United States of America Para Ice Hockey national team represents the most successful Paralympic team, since at the Winter Paralympics they won 5 of the 8 titles awarded since the first edition of Lillehammer 1994. More than 60% of the gold medals awarded in this discipline at the Winter Paralympics carry the American flag. Para Ice Hockey was introduced to the Paralympic Winter Games from Lillehammer 1994.

Wheelchair Curling between China and Canada

There are two hegemonic nations in Wheelchair Curling at the Winter Paralympics: in the first three editions the Canadian national team won the Gold, then China took over with two consecutive first places in Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022. Wheelchair Curling is the second youngest sport at the Winter Paralympics after Para Snowboard and made its first appearance in Turin 2006.

To find out everything about the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Sports, visit the dedicated page.