Winter Games set to ride on Summer success

With 100 days to go before the opening ceremony, Andrew Parsons, the president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), declared that the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games are “going to be probably the best ever”.

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Tina (left) and Milo, mascots of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games respectively, at the press conference in October.

(PHOTO: AFP)

“We have a new player, which is China, after the success of Beijing 2022,” he said. “All the traditional powerhouses of winter sport have to respond to that.

“We will have spectacular Games also from a venue and scenery point of view, with the Dolomites. The world is going to see a fantastic, spectacular Winter Paralympics.”

He added that the Paralympics were riding on the crest of a wave after the success of the Paris Summer Paralympics in 2024.

“There will be more interest in Milano-Cortina because of Paris,” Parsons said. “If Paris was not the huge success it was, probably it would be different.

“People who have never seen a Paralympic Winter Games, they always ask, ‘How is it possible you have athletes with disabilities?’

“When you mention they could see a blind skier coming downhill at 100 kilometres an hour, the reaction is: ‘No, no. That’s not possible’. Well, turn on your TV and you can see it!”