The Winter Olympics have sadly come to an end, but now that the ‘warm-up’ is over, I am getting excited for the main event, the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics. The games will be held from the 6th to the 15th of March with 79 medal events across six sports, consisting of para alpine skiing, para biathlon, para cross-country skiing, para snowboard, wheelchair curling, and my personal favourite, para ice hockey. 

Here are some interesting facts about the winter Paralympics to get you excited for the games! The word ‘Para’ does not refer to disability but means parallel because the Paralympics are held alongside the Olympics. The inaugural winter games were held in 1976 in Sweden and featured alpine skiing. The newest sport added to the program was Para snowboard, which debuted in Sochi 2014. Since 1992, the winter games have been held in the same cities and venues as the Olympics. Athletes compete in different categories called classifications, which group similar levels of disabilities together and are unique to each sport. The most successful country in winter Paralympic history is Norway, which has won the most gold medals overall (Information compiled from www.paralympic.org).

As a summer Paralympian, I am in awe of my winter teammates and appreciate the years of hard work, sacrifices, and resources that go into pursuing a Paralympic dream.  I have tried two winter sports, sit-skiing and para ice hockey. I had good balance when I first tried sit-skiing; however I found skiing so scary due to the steep terrain and speed. It was fun to try and it's definitely a sport for the adrenaline junkies! Para ice hockey, which uses a sled and two short hockey sticks to manoeuvre around the ice rink, is one of my favourite sports to play and also watch. I am looking forward to late nights glued to the TV, supporting our amazing winter Paralympians as they take on the world. 

Comment on which winter Paralympic sport you have tried or are looking forward to watching the most?

About the Author:

Susan Seipel is a diverse para-athlete with a background in swimming, and equestrian, and is a triple World Champion in the sport of Paracanoe.

She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and was the first Australian in history to win a medal in Paracanoe at the Paralympic level. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Susan won a silver medal in the inaugural women’s canoe event. She is currently training for Paris 2024.

Outside of sports, Susan is a proud ambassador for RSPCA Queensland and is passionate about animal welfare. She is also studying Psychology at university.

http://www.susanseipel.com