The best yet on ice and snow: Excitement builds 100 days out to Winter Paralympics in Italy

More than 600 athletes competing across six sports, delivering the best performances yet on ice and snow.

That’s what International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons expects in just 100 days, when the 2026 Winter Paralympics begin in Italy. The Milano Cortina Winter Paralympic Games run from March 6-15.

“We will be seeing athletes defying everything that people think is possible, like [visually impaired] skiers coming down a hill at 100 kilometres per hour, the ability in Para ice hockey, the precision of wheelchair curling,” Parsons told CBC Sports. “And we will see that in stunning sceneries like with the Dolomites as the background. Just incredible venues.”

Next year’s Games will mark the 50th anniversary of the first Winter Paralympics in 1976 in Sweden. For the world’s top winter Para athletes, it also marks the return of fans after pandemic restrictions kept them away from Beijing in 2022.

“Being able to have that back again means a lot to us,” said Parsons, who has been the president of the IPC 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 good crowds.”

WATCH | Parsons marks 100 days to go to the 2026 Winter Paralympics:Andrew Parsons marks 100 days to go to the Paralympics.

Athletes will compete in 79 medal events across six different sports: Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, Para snowboard and wheelchair curling.

A new medal event will make its debut in Italy: wheelchair curling mixed doubles.

Beyond how each sport has grown over the last few years, Parsons is most proud to see how the Paralympics can be a platform for inclusion. 

"Sport is the element that drives that change, so sport has to be of the highest quality to excite people around Paralympic sport," Parson said. "I think we are going to see this in Milano Cortina. We're going to see great sport on a global platform, so this will advance the rights of persons with disabilities."

The numbers back that up: A study commissioned by the IPC and released this past summer found that the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris “triggered major changes in attitudes towards persons with disabilities and is now regarded as one of the most recognized sport events on earth.”

The researchers surveyed more than 15,000 people in 11 countries before and after the Paralympics, and found 79 per cent of those surveyed said the Games “made them more supportive of the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas of society," according to the IPC.

Marcoux to lead as honorary captain

In Italy, Canada will be led by six-time Paralympic medallist and retired alpine skier Mac Marcoux, who will serve as the team’s honorary captain.

Marcoux, who is from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., will be joined by five co-captains who are expected to compete in Italy: Ina Forrest (Spallumcheen, B.C./wheelchair curling), Alexis Guimond (Gatineau, Que./Para alpine skiing), Brittany Hudak (Prince Albert, Sask./Para nordic skiing), Tyler McGregor (Forest, Ont./Para ice hockey), and Tyler Turner (Campbell River, B.C./Para snowboard).

WATCH | Marcoux's message to Canada as honorary captain of Paralympic team:CBC Sports' Brittany MacLean Campbell sat down with two-time Paralympic gold medallist Mac Marcoux, and asked him about all things Paralympics, including what he would say to athletes before the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.

Marcoux’s advice to the Canadian athletes who will be performing in Italy is to enjoy every moment of it, including the journey that got them there.

“For me, success just looks like leaving the games with no regrets no matter where the results lie,” Marcoux told CBC Sports' Brittany MacLean Campbell. “Going out there, leaving everything on the table on the competition side of things, but also just really hope 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 Performance Recognition program will pay $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. The first payments were awarded for performances in Paris in 2024.

“I applaud the initiative of the [Canadian Paralympic Committee] initiative and I would like to see more national Paralympic committees offering that or able to offer that," Parsons said.

Women's Para ice hockey on the horizon

In the future, Parsons would like to see the Paralympics expand to add skating sports to the programme. He said the IPC plans to work with the International Skating Union (ISU) to develop those sports.

Closer on the horizon is the addition of women’s Para ice hockey to the Paralympics. Para ice hockey is technically a mixed sport at the Paralympic level, but very few women have ever competed. Canada's team has never had a woman on it.

Women's Para ice hockey just staged its first world championship in Slovakia earlier this year, with the United States defeating Canada 7-1 in the final. Parsons was at the tournament.

WATCH | Parsons on the future of women's Para ice hockey:Andrew Parsons says para women's ice hockey 'will be a Paralympic sport.'

“We definitely are going to see female Para ice hockey in the Paralympic Games soon,” Parsons said. “If it's in 2030 or if it's in 2034, there are so many things that will have an influence on that. I would like to see it in 2030.”

That includes having more countries competing at the sport’s highest level and a more stable international calendar, Parsons said. According to the IPC’s regulations, a team sport requires a minimum of eight countries and three IPC regions where the sport is widely played in order to be added to the Paralympic programme.

In Canada, the women’s Para hockey team isn’t funded as a high-performance program like the men’s Para hockey team.

In a statement sent to CBC Sports’ Shireen Ahmed last week, Hockey Canada spokesperson Spencer Sharkey pointed to Hockey Canada’s mandate from the federal government “to operate national teams that compete internationally for sanctioned world championships and participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.” Sport Canada hasn't responded yet to questions from CBC Sports about funding the women's Para ice hockey team.

“We continue to work intently with World Para Ice Hockey and the International Paralympic Committee as they navigate the path towards inclusion of women’s Para hockey in the Paralympic Games programme,” Sharkey said.

In the meantime, Hockey Canada has given the team funding through the Hockey Canada Foundation ($150,000 this season) and provided equipment and team gear ahead of this year’s world championship, Sharkey said.

The sport is in a catch-22 situation. It needs to grow before it can receive more funding, but how is the sport supposed to grow without more support?

“I spoke with the Canadian team in Slovakia and I was surprised when they told me [about] let’s say the structure that they have available to train as a team, and that the national federation was not directly involved,” Parsons said.

He said he’d like to see more hockey federations around the world, including Hockey Canada, funding both men ’s and women’s Para hockey teams.

WATCH | The National: Hockey player won't let breast cancer end her Paralympic dream:Raphaëlle Tousignant became the first woman to play for Canada’s mixed para-hockey team in 2023. Despite a breast cancer diagnosis, Tousignant still has her eyes set on making the team for the 2026 Paralympics.

“We gave a clear sign that we are on the way of inclusion of female Para ice hockey, if not in 2030, in 2034 at least,” Parsons said. “If that is an excuse or a justification, it should be off the table now. It will be a Paralympic sport. So the earlier you invest in that sport, the bigger are your chances to make your team be successful, if not in the French Alps but certainly in Salt Lake.”

A controversial vote

Paralympic athletes from Russia or Belarus won't be competing when the Games open in March, but not because of a ban by the IPC.

The IPC’s general assembly voted to lift partial suspensions for both countries earlier this year. It doesn’t appear any athletes from Russia or Belarus will compete, mostly due to bans by individual sport federations.

“We had 177 member organizations present there and the majority took that decision,” Parsons said about the vote to lift the suspensions. “Obviously, I cannot speak on behalf of all of them who voted for that decision or against the decision. But an important element of the discussion was why only Russia and Belarus, since we have so many other conflicts going on around in the world?"

He said the initial suspensions weren't because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but because both countries "used the Paralympic Games to promote the invasion, to promote the war."

Asked how the decision fits with the IPC’s goal to use the Paralympics as a platform for human rights, Parsons said he understands both sides of the vote.

“The president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee spoke strongly before the decision, against the decision in our general assembly [to lift the suspensions],” Parsons said. “So I do see that there's a lot of different reasons why people took that decision, and I also understand why people say that it's going against what we advocate for when we take decisions like that.”

Most recently, the IPC's decision has come under fire by more than 30 countries, primarily from Europe, that signed a joint letter expressing “serious concern” about lifting the partial suspensions, according to reporting this week from Sky News in the U.K.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus can compete at next year’s Winter Olympics, but not under their country’s flag. They’ll compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, and only after undergoing screening to ensure they’ve not supported the war in Ukraine.