The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics will feature 79 medal events over the course of nine days in Northern Italy.
There are six sports contested at the Winter Paralympics.
Classification at the Paralympics
The Paralympics are open to athletes with a wide variety of impairments. A rigorous classification process determines whether an athlete is eligible to compete in a specific sport.
For many sports, the classification process also assigns athletes a class where they are grouped alongside other athletes with similar impairments. Sport classes can be used to help level the playing field.
Para Alpine Skiing and Biathlon Events
There are 10 different para Alpine skiing events, and three separate categories will be contested within each event. In total, 30 sets of medals will be awarded.
Within each category, there are multiple sports classes.
Given the wide range of impairments within each category, athletes compete against each other using factored times. Each sport class is assigned its own factor, which is then used to determine the factored time for each athlete in that class. Those factored times determine the overall results for each category.
For para biathlon, there are six different events, and three separate categories will be contested within each event. In total, 18 sets of medals will be awarded.
Para Cross-Country Skiing and Snowboarding Events
For para cross-country skiing, there are six individual events and two relay events. Three separate categories will be contested within each individual event, while the relay events will feature athletes from all three categories competing together on a team in one standalone event. In total, 20 sets of medals will be awarded.
Within each category, there are multiple sports classes.
Given the wide range of impairments within each category, athletes compete against each other using factored times. Each sport class is assigned its own factor, which is then used to determine the factored time for each athlete in that class. Those factored times determine the overall results for each category.
There are four different para snowboarding events. Unlike the sports above, competition will be separated by sport class instead of category. The number of sport classes contested within each event varies by gender.
There are three separate sport classes for men: one for upper-limb impairments, and two for lower-limb impairments of varying degrees. Due to smaller field sizes, there is no upper-limb category for women, and all women with lower-limb impairments will compete.