The Verona Arena’s Olympic torch was extinguished on Feb. 22, bringing the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics to an official close. Although Italy has handed over the Olympic torch to France, who will host the Games in four years, Italy has not yet completed their hosting duties.
Milano Cortina will host the Paralympic athletes competing in the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games from March 6 to 15. This year is the Games’ 50th anniversary; the first Winter Paralympic Games were held in Sweden in 1976. Since then, the Games have been held every four years, and in 1992, they began taking place at the same location as the Winter Olympics to demonstrate the congruence between the two games.
The “para” in the term “Paralympic” comes from a Greek preposition translating to “beside” or “alongside,” demonstrating the equality between the games, however viewership decreases significantly from about 31 million Olympic viewers to 15.4 million Paralympic viewers.
A paper written by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, a bioethicist, disability justice researcher and professor at Emory University, explores the visibility of people with disabilities within society.
“As both a generative concept and a fundamental human experience… disability generates circuits of meaning-making in the world,” Thomson said.
Leah Zelaya, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’29, is a skier and dancer. She has a neuromuscular disease and is a strong advocate for people with disabilities. She spoke to her experience as a disabled athlete.
“Once I learned and embraced myself for who I was and I got involved with communities like dancing… that really changed my mindset and opened my eyes because I saw so many other people my age and older doing these sports and feeling confident and doing what they love at the end of the day,” Zelaya said.
For Zelaya, the Paralympics are more than just games: They are an inspiration and a demonstration that a disability is not limiting.
“It inspires so many other people — young kids, as well — growing up who want to pursue something and they can turn on their TV and see someone who looks like them,” Zelaya said.
This year, about 650 athletes are representing their countries at the Paralympic Games, including 68 American athletes. Among the U.S. team is decorated athlete Brenna Huckaby, who is set to compete in snowboarding.
The fight for inclusion in sports for people with disabilities has always been at the core of Huckaby’s career and advocacy. Huckaby was not always a snowboarder; she began her athletic career in gymnastics. At 14 years old, Huckaby was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which led to the amputation of her right leg. During her rehabilitation, she was introduced to snowboarding and has been riding ever since.
“While this was a big win, there is always more work to be done, and I hope that this reminds adaptive athletes and the disabled community more broadly to never give up on our fight for inclusion.” Brenna Huckaby, U.S.A. snowboarder
In her Paralympic debut in 2018 in PyeongChang, she received two gold medals in both snowboard cross and banked slalom. However, as she was training to defend her titles in the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, she noticed that Beijing had cut her events.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) changed the guidelines of the sport to be geared towards more impaired athletes, only allowing those of the SB-LL2 class to compete. SB-LL2 means having an impairment in both legs, whereas Huckaby falls under the SB-LL1 class with impairment to only one leg.
Huckaby refused to let her training be sidelined, developed an inclusivity campaign, and fought to earn her right to compete. She filed against the IPC in Germany’s Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, where she underwent a lengthy legal battle until they finally allowed her to compete.
“While this was a big win, there is always more work to be done, and I hope that this reminds adaptive athletes and the disabled community more broadly to never give up on our fight for inclusion,” Huckaby said.
At the 2026 Winter Paralympics, Huckaby will return to the slopes to compete in the banked slalom, as well as the snowboarding cross event.
Competing alongside Huckaby on Team USA is 19-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters. She is a true testament of overcoming adversity, having spent the first seven years of her life between orphanages in Ukraine, struggling with birth defects caused by a Chernobyl nuclear accident that caused her to have both her legs amputated.
“When I’m training … I zone out,” Masters said. “A lot of times, I’m going back to those darker moments to process everything and it helps me regain power. In those moments in my life, I did not have power over my body and myself. And to this day, sports for me, it’s therapy.”
At the Milano Cortina Games, Masters is looking to add to her collection of Olympic medals by competing in cross-country skiing and biathlon.
The Paralympics challenge the societal notions of disabilities and platform the stories of incredible athletes like that of Huckaby or Masters, stories that resonate with all athletes.
“For me, it’s not about proving what I can do to other people. It’s just more about doing what I love and just doing that with my whole heart and putting my passion into it and just encouraging other people like me as well,” Zelaya said.
As the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games begin, the athletes will emulate Zelaya’s passion, playing the sports they excel at and love. Viewers can stream performances of all Paralympic athletes, including Huckaby and Masters, on Peacock and give them the viewership they deserve.
