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The 2026 Milano-Cortina Paralympics are underway, with the opening ceremony on Friday, March 6, and the first medals awarded the following day.
The eight-person Paralympic contingent from eastern Ontario and western Quebec includes five medallists from previous Games and two rookies across four sports.
CBC Radio spoke with several of them in the days before competition starts.
The Games end on March 15. A full competition schedule is available on the Milano Cortina 2026 website.
Alpine skiing
Two-time Paralympic bronze medallist Alexis Guimond from Gatineau is set to compete in three standing events, with his first medal chance on March 7.
“Honestly, going through my third Paralympics is a victory, and having my family in attendance is another victory in my books,” he said.
“So I’m not chasing outcomes. I’m chasing to make my family proud.”
Alexis Guimond of Canada celebrates after a 2022 Paralympic run. (Aly Song/Reuters)
Merrickville-raised and Calabogie-trained Brian Rowland is back for his second Games after his debut in 2022. His three sitting competitions are scheduled for March 7, 9 and 13.
“I have quite a bit more experience now, [I’m] very comfortable and I’m really looking forward to going out there and giving it my all again,” he said.
“I was slightly hurt at the last Games. It kind of goes with the sport, we’re pushing the limits.”
Brian Rowland competes in the men’s sitting super-G at the 2022 Paralympics. (Andy Wong/The Canadian Press)
Ottawa’s Sierra Smith is competing as a guide with B.C.’s Kalle Eriksson in five visually impaired events from March 7 to 15. It’s their Paralympic debut, but they’ve frequently been on the World Cup podium since first teaming up in 2023.
“I think that we are two very, very, completely different people when it comes to pre-race nerves,” Eriksson said.
“I’m someone who gets very quiet and very nervous. She’s very bubbly and loud, honestly.”
“I see Kalle getting nervous and I try to talk him out of it,” Smith added. “We go through the course and back to our game plan and try and talk through that just to reassure us that we know what we’re doing, but also just, you know, what are we eating later on?”
Cross-country skiing
The University of Ottawa’s Emma Archibald has picked up several international top-10 finishes in standing cross-country races.
The nursing student from Nova Scotia is set to race in her first Paralympics on March 10, 11 and 15.
“The faculty has been super supportive.… I’m almost done my degree, so I think it kind of lines up perfect with these Paralympic Games. I’m finally able to balance them both,” she said.
Hockey
The para hockey team features Ottawa’s Tyrone Henry, Gatineau’s Anton Jacobs-Webb and Carleton University grad Rob Armstrong.
All three return from the silver medal-winning 2022 team, with Henry and Armstrong getting silver in 2018 as well, losing gold to the United States,
“We play the Americans a lot and we know them well,” said Jacobs-Webb. “It’s our favorite game. And it’s it’s the biggest game that we get.”
Their preliminary round runs March 7 to 10, semifinals are March 13 and medal games are on March 15.
Anton Jacobs-Webb, right, battles with Jang Dong-shin of South Korea in 2022. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters)Curling
Ottawa’s Collinda Joseph is back after a bronze in 2022, with another third-place finish at the 2025 world championship.
“We’re hoping for a podium finish, we’d love to be able to come home with a gold medal and I think we have a team that can actually do that this time,” she said.
Her team’s round robin runs from March 7 to 12. Semifinals are March 13 and the gold medal will be awarded March 14.
Collinda Joseph, left, on the bronze medal-winning curling team at the 2022 Paralympics. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters)