IPC confirms number of events and athlete quotas

2023-08-01 16:36:47

With the adoption of the number of events and athlete quotas, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is preparing to celebrate a historic edition of the Winter Games in less than three years.

(Credits – Milano Cortina 2026)

From March 6 to 15, 2026, the Paralympic Winter Games will return to Italy, settling in the clusters athletes identified by the Milan-Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee.

With this in mind, twenty years after the Turin 2006 edition, the IPC is actively preparing for this comeback. Also, the international institution unveiled this Monday, July 31, the number of events and the quotas of athletes.

In less than three years, 79 events will take place around 6 sports which remain unchanged since PyeongChang 2018, namely, para-ski alpin and the para-snowboard expected at the Tofane site in the cluster of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the para-biathlon and the cross-country para-ski in Tesero in the cluster of the Val di Fiemme, the para-ice-hockey within the PalaSharp of Milan – or probably in the heart of the Milan fair -, and the curling-armchair which will take place at Ice stadium from Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Within these sports, a new event will make its debut on the Milan edition.

For the first time in the history of the Paralympic Winter Games, wheelchair curling will feature two events with, in addition to the mixed team tournament present since the 2006 Turin Games, the installation of the mixed doubles tournament.

(Credits – Thomas Lovelock – OIS/IPC)

Regarding athlete quotas, the IPC has seen the big picture, since a maximum of 665 places can be allocated, including 176 for women. These figures reflect in fact the ambition of the international institution anxious to pursue the development of its winter event.

Moreover, in the event that all the places were to be distributed, the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games would become neither more nor less than the largest in history in terms of participants, the record currently being held by the edition of PyeongChang 2018 with 564 participating athletes, ahead of Beijing 2022 and its 558 final registrations, the latter however having the palm on the record number of female athletes (136).

In detail, 30 events with medals will be offered in alpine para-skiing, with 15 men’s and 15 women’s events for a total of 130 places available for men and 60 places for women.

In para-biathlon, 18 events will be organized during the 2026 Games, with 9 men’s and 9 women’s events, while for para-cross-country skiing, 20 events will be offered, with 9 men’s, 9 women’s and 2 mixed events. For these two sports, a ceiling of 180 places has been set, i.e. 110 for men and 70 for women.

As for para-hockey-on-ice, the format remains unchanged from previous editions, with a tournament open to female participation, with a limit of 144 participants, including at least 8 female athletes.

Regarding para-snowboard, 8 events will be organized at Milan-Cortina 2026, i.e. 6 men’s and 2 women’s, and a contingent of 85 places maximum (65 for men and 20 for women).

Finally, for wheelchair curling, 66 places have been announced for the 2 aforementioned tournaments, including 18 secure places for men and 18 for women, the rest being to be shared.

View of the Tesero Cross-Country Ski Center in 2013 (Credits – VisitFiemme / Maurizio Bussolon)

On reading the quotas, there appears to be an obvious gap between the places available for men and those available for women.

On this point, the President of the IPC Athletes’ Council wanted to express her encouragement for the years to come, hoping for a more sustained development of women’s practice and an increase in the representation of women in para-sports competitions. .

As Jitske Visser put it:

It’s always a special moment for an athlete when the program is announced. Winter sports athletes around the world can now step up their preparations for the Games.

Of course, I would like to see more places for female athletes at the Games, but to achieve this on future editions, we need to see an increase in the talent pool on a global scale and a greater depth of competition.