The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced two newly elected members of the IPC Athletes’ Council who will serve for the next four years until the French Alps 2030 Paralympic Winter Games. The two elected council members are: 

 

•    Adam Hall (New Zealand, Para Alpine Skiing) 

•    Tyler McGregor (Canada, Para Ice Hockey) 

 

Three Athletes’ Council positions were available at the election but two athletes were tied for the final place: Mia Larsen Sveberg (Norway, Wheelchair curling) and Declan Farmer (USA, Para ice hockey). What happens in the event of a tie is detailed in the IPC Handbook: 

Athletes’ Council Terms of Reference:

Article 3.6.8, ‘In the event of a tie for the last position, the position will remain vacant until the Athletes’ Council selects a candidate from amongst those tied (ordinarily at the next meeting of the Athletes’ Council).’

The IPC Athletes’ Council, a group of elected athlete representatives who act as the voice of the Para athlete community to the IPC, are next due to meet in April and will decide between the two candidates tied for third place. 

The Athletes’ Council is made up of 12 athletes in total, which includes the three winter athletes and six summer athletes, two appointed members, and the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes’ Commission. The Chairperson and first Vice Chairperson of the IPC Athletes’ Council are also members of the IPC Governing Board.    

The IPC Athletes’ Council elections took place from 3 March to 13 March during the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in the Paralympic Houses located in the Cortina, Milan and Predazzo Paralympic Villages.  

There were five athletes up for election to fill the three winter representative positions. In total 424 out of 611 athletes voted. Each athlete was allowed to vote for up to three candidates. Voter turnout was 69.4 per cent.

Adam Hall (New Zealand Para alpine skiing)        184

Tyler McGregor (Canada Para ice hockey)        169

Declan Farmer (USA Para ice hockey)            164

Mia Larsen Sveberg (Norway Wheelchair curling)    164

Markus Salcher (Austria Para alpine skiing)        107

Speaking on the election, Athletes’ Council chairperson Vladyslava Kravchenko said: “On behalf of the Athletes’ Council we would like to congratulate Adam and Tyler on their election and to thank all the athletes who have voted during the Games. We also thank our outgoing members Josh Dueck, Mitch Gourley, Birgit Skarstein for their contribution over the past years. We look forward to our next Athletes’ Council meeting to decide on the third member elected from the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games and elect a new Vice Chairperson following the departure of Josh Dueck.”

The role of the IPC Athletes’ Council is to provide feedback and advice and report to the Governing Board on IPC matters from the athletes’ perspective, on behalf of and in the interests of Paralympic athletes, and to engage with the athlete community.

All candidates are active Paralympic athletes. This means he or she must have competed in the current edition of the Paralympic Games at which the election is taking place or have competed in either of the previous two editions of the Paralympic Winter Games (PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022).