As we start Milano Cortina 2026, let’s look back at 50 years of the Winter Paralympic Games
by Alison Brown
The Winter Paralympics is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Games have come a long way from its start 50 years ago.
The First Paralympic Winter Games
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden hosted the first Paralympic Winter Games in 1976, and compared to the current Games, it was a tiny event. 198 athletes from 16 countries competed in only two sports: para alpine skiing and para cross country skiing.
Athletes were either visually impaired or amputees. West Germany sent the largest team and topped the medal table winning 10 gold, 12 silver and six bronze medals, finishing ahead of Switzerland (10 gold, one silver, and one bronze) and Finland (eight gold, seven silver, and seven bronze). Birgitta Sund from the host country Sweden became the breakout star of the first Games, winning three Paralympic gold medals in para cross-country skiing.
What were those early Games like? Early on in our show’s history, we talked with Robert Walsh, who remembers the early days of the Winter Paralympics, when Opening Ceremonies were Opening Dinners.
Evolution of Winter Para Sports
Ice sledge racing, a speed event, first appeared at Geilo, Norway 1980. Competitors sat on sleds with blades underneath them and propelled themselves with hand-held poles. This sport was in the Paralympics through Nagano 1998 and then removed from the program because the nature of the sport was too hard on ice rinks.
Although ice sledge racing joined and left the Paralympic program, other sports added events in the 1980s that are still on today’s program. Both Alpine and Nordic skiing added sit skiing events at Innsbruck 1988.
Para biathlon was added at Tignes-Albertville 1992, which was also the first Winter Paralympics to share Olympic venues, an arrangement that’s since continued, giving host cities another opportunity to reuse Olympic venues.
Sled hockey—now called para ice hockey—was added at Lillehammer 1994. Players sit on sleds and maneuver the puck with two sticks. The sticks have spikes in the tips, which allow players to move around the rink. Teams can be mixed gender, though few females have participated in the Paralympics. That said, the women’s version of the game is growing and is up for possible inclusion in the 2030 Winter Paralympics.
At Torino 2006, wheelchair curling joined the Paralympic program. Unlike able-bodied curling, teams do not sweep the rocks down the ice, meaning athletes have to be able to read the ice throughout the game to shoot accurately.
Para snowboard made its Paralympic debut at Sochi 2014. All three have proved incredibly popular. Host cities for the Olympics and Paralympics consolidated in 1992 in Albertville, though organizers operated separately for several more editions.
How much have the Paralympics grown?
At Milano Cortina 2026, 612 athletes from 56 National Paralympic Committees will take part. Five new NPCs will make their Winter Paralympics debut: El Salvador, Haiti, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Portugal.
Athletes will compete in 79 medal events in six sports: para alpine skiing, para biathlon, para cross country skiing, para ice hockey, para snowboard, and wheelchair curling.
While this is a banner year for athlete participation, the number of women competing in the Winter Paralympics has also grown. At Milano Cortina 2026, a record 160 women will compete across all sports, up from 136 at Beijing 2022.
That said, some women still have some classification issues for the Paralympics, simply because there aren’t enough women competing to have full competition for all available classes. Brenna Huckaby has been one of those who have had challenges finding a class to compete in.
New for Milano Cortina 2026
Events continue to expand as winter para sports develops around the world. Mixed double wheelchair curling makes its debut this year. Disabilities have expanded beyond amputation and visual impairment, representing a wide breadth of physical disabilities.
What are you excited to watch at the Winter Paralympic Games this week?
Jill Jaracz contributed to this article.