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Milano Cortina 2026 will be the biggest Paralympic Winter Games in history with the most ever National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) and Para athletes set to compete.<\/p>\n
As the Paralympic Winter Games celebrates a special milestone with its 50th anniversary, history will be made when 611\u00a0athletes from 55\u00a0NPCs will line-up in 79 medal events across six sports. The previous record was 564 athletes from 49 delegations at PyeongChang 2018. When the Winter Games began in Ornskoldsvik in 1976, there were 198 athletes from 16 countries.<\/p>\n
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Amongst the 56 competing NPCs will be five Paralympic Winter Games debutants.<\/p>\n
El Salvador has never competed at any Winter Games \u2013 Olympic or Paralympic \u2013 but will have two Para athletes competing in Para cross-country skiing – David Chavez and Jonathan Arias.<\/p>\n
Haiti and North Macedonia will both make their Paralympic Winter Games debuts in Para alpine skiing courtesy of Ralf Etienne and Zoran Jovanovski respectively. Montenegro\u2019s Andrej Sibalic and Portugal\u2019s Diogo Carmona will both line-up in Para snowboard, ensuring representation of their respective countries for the first time at a Paralympic Winter Games.<\/p>\n
The athletes from El Salvador, Haiti, Montenegro, and North Macedonia have all benefitted from funding support from the IPC\u2019s Sport for Mobility programme over the last 12 months to qualify for the Games. In total 39 athletes and four guides from 23 NPCs who will compete at the Games received sport development support through Sport for Mobility and other sport development programmes for Milano Cortina 2026.<\/p>\n
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For the fourth successive Paralympic Winter Games, a record number of women will compete. A total of 160 female competitors will compete across all six sports, an 18 per cent increase on the previous record high of 136 women set at Beijing 2022.<\/p>\n
Six NPCs will also have a record number of female competitors for the Paralympic Winter Games: \u00a0Australia (5), Belarus (3), Brazil (3), Croatia (2), Korea (6), Latvia (4).<\/p>\n
Five sports will have a record number of female competitors: Para alpine skiing (57 women), Para biathlon (45), Para cross-country skiing (65), Para snowboard (15) and wheelchair curling (25). In Para ice hockey a female athlete will compete for the second consecutive Games and the fourth-time ever since the sport was included in the Games.<\/p>\n
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China, who topped the medals table for the first time at Beijing 2022, have the biggest delegation of all competing NPCs with 70 athletes, followed by USA with 68, and Canada with 46. Hosts Italy boast a team of 42 athletes.<\/p>\n
Seven other NPCs will send their biggest ever delegations to a Paralympic Winter Games: Brazil (8 athletes), Czechia (24), Italy (42), Kazakhstan (7), Latvia (7), Slovakia (28) and Ukraine (25).<\/p>\n
Highlighting the growth of the Paralympic Winter Games, a record number of NPCs will compete in the sports of Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para snowboard and wheelchair curling.<\/p>\n
Para athletes from 44 NPCs will contest 30 medal events in Para alpine skiing, surpassing the previous best of 37 NPCs from Beijing 2022.<\/p>\n
In Para biathlon, 21 NPCs will contest 18 medal events. The previous highest was 16 NPCs from PyeongChang 2018.<\/p>\n
Thirty-one\u00a0NPCs will contest the 20 medal events in Para cross-country, the same number PyeongChang 2018.<\/p>\n
In Para snowboard where there are eight medal events, Para athletes from 28 NPCs will compete, surpassing the previous high of 24 NPCs at PyeongChang 2018.<\/p>\n
Colleen Wrenn, IPC Executive Director Paralympic Games, said: \u201cThe number of records that Milano Cortina 2026 is setting in terms of competing athletes and delegations is a testament to the fantastic work of the NPCs and International Federations in the lead-up to the Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the number of competitors has increased, so has the intensity of competition with each medal event now boasting a depth of talent never seen to such a level before at Paralympic Winter Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross all six sports, we are set to witness incredible and historic performances. But the Games are more than just experiencing amazing sport \u2013 the power of the Paralympics is in its ability to also change attitudes\u00a0towards persons with disabilities. It is this unique power that makes the Paralympic Games so transformational.<\/p>\n
A total of 78 bipartite qualification slots were awarded to athletes spanning four sports \u2013 Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing and Para snowboard \u2013 and 36\u00a0NPCs.<\/p>\n
The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games will open on 6 March at the Arena di Verona.<\/p>\n
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*The announcement was updated on 6 March<\/p>\n
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Ticket prices for the Games start at EUR 10 for children under 14, with approximately 89 per cent of the tickets available for EUR 35 or less. To buy tickets, please visit: tickets.milanocortina2026.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n