The Paralympics took place from March 6 to March 15 and was the concluding Olympics event in Milan and Cortina Italy, where disabled athletes competed for medals in winter sports including skiing — both cross country and downhill — along with hockey and snowboarding.
The Paralympics celebrates the dedication of athletes who, despite the odds, make it to the top of the international competition of winter sports. Athletes showcase their skills, balance and power as they prove that their disability will not stop them from doing what they love. Though the sports share the same name and concept as the Olympics, they are not the same.
“My sport, while it’s very similar to its Olympic cousin … is different, our courses are different, the way we go about racing is just different. And that difference isn’t less than; that difference is just a different sport, said Brenna Huckaby, co-founder of Culxtured and a four time U.S snowboarding medalist, in an article written by NPR.
The Paralympics became a part of the international sport stage in Rome, Italy, in 1960 as an event on its own, but it was not always known by that name. It was first known as the The Stoke Mandeville Games, which was first created after World War II for the purpose of assisting injured war veterans in their rehabilitation.
In 1976, the first winter games in Paralympics history were held in Sweden and have taken place every four years. The Olympics and Paralympics Games have been held in the same city and used the same venues since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.
The 2026 Paralympics kicked off with the traditional opening ceremony in the Arena di Verona and was the second time that Italy has hosted the Paralympic games. The opening ceremony was put on by Artistic Director Alfredo Accatino and Creative Director Adriano Martella.
The performance included dances that were meant to resemble a ‘water droplet moving towards a solid form.’ The Winter Olympics is represented as the water moved into the form of ice with the elemental theme that this seasonal games is. The performance continued with drumming by Elisa “Helly” Montin, a Verona-based world champion drummer.
The Italian flag was passed from Carlotta Bertotti, a model and influencer known for pushing self acceptance, to Veronica Yoko Plebani, who represented Italy at multiple summer and winter Paralympic Games. The Italian national anthem was performed by Italian singer Mimì Caruso and was accompanied by Ginevra Nervi and the Alpine choir from Verona.
Following this was the Parade of Nations, which is a signature tradition where athletes from participating countries march into the stadium behind their national flags. The flag bearers for Team USA were Sled Hockey Player Josh Pauls and Para Alpine Skier Laurie Stephens.
“I began my Paralympic journey 20 years ago in Torino, and then to carry the flag at my final paralympics in Cortina is a full-circle honor. It’s one I’m proud to carry forward as I step into coaching the next generation,” Stephens said in an interview with Team USA.
The ceremony continued with the “Life in Motion” performance whose music was performed by Miky Bionic, the world's first DJ with a bionic hand. He was able to manipulate vinyls, mixers and controllers using his prosthesis.
The Opening Ceremony concluded with the lighting of the torch, which was carried into the arena by wheelchair fencing champion, Beatrice Vio. This year’s Paralympics marked the first time that two torches were lit in two different cities. In Cortina, Francesca Porcellato lit the torch and in Milan, Gianmaria Dal Maistro.
The conclusion of the Opening Ceremony signified the start of the games first events: para alpine skiing and para biathlon. Para alpine skiing continued throughout the entire event while para biathlon concluded on March 13. Para cross-country skiing, para air hockey, para snowboarding and wheelchair curling took place during the last half of the games.
The first female gold medalist for Team USA in this year’s games was Oksana Masters, who won the 7.5 kilometer sprint biathlon-sitting and the women’s sprint classic-sitting in para cross-country and biathlon. Jake Adicoff was the first male athlete to win gold for Team USA where he won the men's sprint classic.
Team USA finished the Paralympics with 13 gold medals, five silver medals and six bronze medals. The team came in second for the world medal competition with 24 compared to the People’s Republic of China who had 44, 15 of which were gold. Masters and Adicoff led Team USA with the most gold medals won with Sydney Peterson close behind with three gold and one silver. The 2026 Paralympics came to a close on March 15 and the next games will take place in Los Angeles, California, in 2028.
Devin Bates (they/he) is a journalism major at IU Indianapolis with an interest in writing and the arts. In their free time they can be found working on their project cars or writing, but he also enjoys crafts like cosplay and listening to music or gaming.
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