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 One of the many colours of the logo | |
| Location | Milan andCortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
|---|---|
| Motto | IT's Your Vibe[a] |
| Athletes | 665 (expected) |
| Events | 79 in 6sports |
| Opening | 6 March 2026 |
| Closing | 15 March 2026 |
| Opened by | President of Italy (expected) |
| Stadium |
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Winter Summer 2026 Winter Olympics | |
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| Part of a series on |
| 2026 Winter Paralympics |
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The2026 Winter Paralympics (Italian:Milano Cortina 2026 Giochi paralimpici invernali), also known as theXIV Paralympic Winter Games and commonly referred to asMilano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming internationalwintermulti-sport event for athletes with disabilities, scheduled to take place from 6 to 15 March at sites acrossLombardy andNortheast Italy.
This will be thethird Paralympic Games hosted in Italy, following the1960 Summer Paralympics inRome (the inaugural Paralympic Games) and the2006 Winter Paralympics inTurin. It will be the first Paralympic Games sinceTignes-Albertville 1992 to officially feature multiple host cities, and will be the first Winter Paralympics sinceVancouver 2010 where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held in different venues.[4] It also marks the 50th anniversary of theWinter Paralympic Games.
In October 2018, theItalian National Olympic Committee officially confirmed plans for abid by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo to host the Games.[5] The bid was presented at the general assembly of theAssociation of National Olympic Committees on 28 November 2018 inTokyo.[6] The two cities were elected as hosts of both the 2026 Paralympics andOlympics on 24 June 2019 at the134th IOC Session inLausanne, Switzerland, defeating Sweden's joint bid ofStockholm andÅre.[7]
| Bid | Nation | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo |  Italy | 47 |
| Stockholm–Åre |  Sweden | 34 |
| One abstention orblank vote[9] | ||
The handover occurred during theclosing ceremony of the2022 Winter Paralympics inBeijing, China, on 13 March. TheParalympic flag was passed fromBeijing mayorChen Jining toInternational Paralympic Committee (IPC) presidentAndrew Parsons, and then toAnna Scavuzzo, vice-mayor of Milan, andGianpietro Ghedina, mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo.[10][11] The flag was then flown back to Italy, where it arrived the following day.[12] Both the Olympic flag and the Paralympic flag are displayed atPalazzo Marino and will remain there until the end of their respective events.[13]
Thetorch relay is scheduled to take place from 24 February to 6 March 2026, with 501 torchbearers covering 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi). The flame will be lit at theStoke Mandeville Hospital in the United Kingdom and will be sent to five Italian cities; the relay will visit Cortina d'Ampezzo,Venice, andPadua, ending at theVerona Arena for theopening ceremony.[14]
The Paralympic torch was presented in a simultaneous event held in Milan in Italy andOsaka in Japan. It was revealed at theTriennale di Milano and at the Italian pavilion atExpo 2025 as a way of connecting the twotwin cities, as Milan previously hostedExpo 2015.[15][16][17] The torch is bronze whereas the corresponding Olympic torch is light blue.[18] Named "Essential"; developed byEni and its subsidiaryVersalis, designed by StudioCarlo Ratti Associati and produced in Italy by Cavagna Group, the torches are made primarily of an alloy of recycled aluminium and bronze. They run bio-LPG, a fuel made from renewable materials, produced at theEnilive [it] biorefinery inGela, and have been designed to be refilled up to ten times in order to cut down on the number of torches produced.[19]
A total of 18,000 volunteers will be involved with both the 2026 Paralympic and Olympic Games. Applications for volunteering opened on 19 September 2024.[20] As of December 2024, almost 70,000 applications have been received.[21]
Tickets for the 2026 Paralympic Games start at €10 for children under 14. About 89% of all available tickets - more than 200,000 - are priced at under €35. Registration for the ticketing platform opened on 4 October 2024 and ticket sales started in March 2025.[22]
On 15 July 2025, the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee unveiled the designs of the medals. The front side of each medal represents the Braille on the left and logo on the right, and the back is the Paralympics logo.
Five competition venues will be used for the 2026 Paralympic Games, in addition to non-competitive venues including threeParalympic Villages.[23]
The opening ceremony is scheduled for 6 March 2026 at theVerona Arena inVerona, entitled "Life in Motion", with production byFilmmaster Group [it]. The closing ceremony is scheduled to take place on 15 March 2026 at theCortina Olympic Ice Stadium inCortina d'Ampezzo, entitled "Italian Souvenir", with production by G2 Eventi – Casta Diva Group.[24][25]
The Games are expected to feature 79 events in sixWinter Paralympic sports. Amixed doubles event will make its debut inwheelchair curling.[26] A total of 665 athlete quota places are available: 323 for men, 176 for women, and 166 gender-free.[27]
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Para alpine skiing(30) (details)
Para biathlon(18) (details)
Para cross-country skiing(20) (details)
Para ice hockey(1) (details)_pictogram.svg)
Para snowboard(8) (details).svg)
Wheelchair curling(2) (details)The following 52 participatingNational Paralympic Committees have qualified athletes. Quotas were given throughout 2024 to 2026 for most events. Wheelchair Curling qualifying points from 2023 through 2025, eight quotas for mixed team, and ten quotas for mixed doubles,[28] and Para Ice Hockey qualifying points from 2023 through 2025.[29]
In September 2025, the IPC reinstated theRussian Paralympic Committee, allowing Russian athletes to participate in international competitions with their flag and anthem. In October, it became known thatFIS,IBU, andWorld Curling maintained their decision to bar Russian andBelarusian athletes from Olympic qualifying competitions, even under aneutral status.[30] They could theoretically still participate inPara ice hockey events but the teams for the qualification tournament have already been decided, meaning the two countries will not qualify any athletes for the 2026 Games.[31] In February 2026, it became known that six Russians athletes out of the 16 previously submitted applications received invitations to the competitions.[32]
| Participating National Paralympic Committees[citation needed] |
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The schedule for the 2026 Paralympics was released on 9 December 2024. Due to curling venue being used for the closing ceremony, the competitions will begin two days before the opening ceremony, with the first two rounds of the wheelchair curling mixed doubles.[33]
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
| March 2026 | 04 Wed | 05 Thu | 06 Fri | 07 Sat | 08 Sun | 09 Mon | 10 Tue | 11 Wed | 12 Thu | 13 Fri | 14 Sat | 15 Sun | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=logo} Ceremonies | OC | CC | N/a | ||||||||||
| Para alpine skiing | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 30 | |||||
| Para biathlon | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | |||||||||
| Para cross-country skiing | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 20 | ||||||||
| Para ice hockey | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Para snowboard | ● | 4 | 4 | 8 | |||||||||
| Wheelchair curling | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | ● | ● | 1 | 2 | |
| Daily medal events | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 79 |
| Cumulative total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 22 | 28 | 40 | 47 | 50 | 59 | 69 | 79 | |
| March 2026 | 04 Wed | 05 Thu | 06 Fri | 07 Sat | 08 Sun | 09 Mon | 10 Tue | 11 Wed | 12 Thu | 13 Fri | 14 Sat | 15 Sun | Total events |
On 30 March 2021, following a public vote between two candidates designed byLandor Associates, a design named "Futura" was announced as theemblem of both the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The Paralympic version is coloured with a red, blue, and greengradient to symbolise anaurora and the colours of theParalympic agitos.[34][35][36]
An online vote closing on 28 February 2023 was held among a list of candidates to select the mascots of the Olympics and Paralympics, with the winning candidates being inspired bystoats.[37] Their names were revealed to be Tina and Milo (derived from the names of the host cities),[38] with Milo, the brown stoat, being theParalympic mascot. The character is portrayed as having been born without a leg, and represents ingenuity, willpower and creativity.[39]
In March 2022, "Fino all'alba" (transl. Until dawn) byArisa was unveiled as the official song for both the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.[40] The song was composed by Francesco Marrone and Giulio Gianni.[41]
Thebrand elements for both the 2026 Paralympic and Olympic Games were unveiled on 7 November 2024, drawing inspiration fromgestures, which are commonly usedin Italian communication. These includepictograms for the six Paralympic sports inspired by movements of athletes.[42][43] Five graphic elements named "vibes" were designed, with contemporary Italian figures selected to represent them on social media: musicianDardust (creativity), athleteBebe Vio (energy), comedianFederico Basso [it] (imagination), chefDavide Oldani [it] (passion), and dancerNicoletta Manni (style).[42]
At least 300 hours of television coverage will be provided.[44] In October 2025, theEuropean Broadcasting Union acquired rights to the Games in Europe, with rights to be sub-licensed to its members; the EBU re-gained the pan-European rights for the first time since 2018.[45] Rights agreements were also renewed withCBC Sports (Canada, in partnership with theCanadian Paralympic Committee), andGrupo Globo (Brazil).[46][47]
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