The 2026 Winter Paralympics came to an end on Sunday with a glitzy closing ceremony in Cortina as China topped the medal table of a Games that saw several countries protest the decision to allow Russian athletes to compete under their national flag for the first time since 2014.
Amid a global backdrop of war in the Middle East and Russia’s ongoing offensive in Ukraine, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons told the Games’ Paralympians that they “rose above pressure, expectation and global tension to keep the focus where it belongs: on you and your sport”.
The IPC’s decision to allow Russia to return to the Paralympic fold after 12 years away dominated much of the headlines leading up to and during the Games, with the country finishing third in the medals table, courtesy of eight golds, one silver and three bronzes.
However, for the most part, the nation’s return went off without incident in Italy.
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Australia finished equal-21st alongside Poland on the Winter Paralympics medal tally, making it the nation’s worst result since 1988.
Para-snowboarder Ben Tudhope was Australia’s lone medallist, with the Sydneysider winning bronze in the men’s banked slalom SB-LL2
days following his silver medal in the snowboard cross.
The 26-year-old, who has hemiplegic cerebral palsy, was the youngest athlete at 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, winning his first medal in Beijing four years ago, a bronze in the SB-LL2 snowboard cross.
Opening Ceremony flag-bearer Tudhope, who suffered a dislocated shoulder last week, was beaten out by Italy’s Emanuel Perathoner and Switzerland’s Frabrice von Gruenigen in Friday’s banked slalom event. Only two Australians have won more Winter Paralympic medals than Tudhope – Michael Milton and James Patterson.“It was so unexpected. I thought maybe I could get one – the season hasn’t been the best for me,” Tudhope said on Friday.
“I definitely wanted to be able to put on a show here, and that’s what I did.”
Asked of his celebrations, Tudhope responded: “Beers, beers, beers, beers, beers.”
“I am going to be on it.”
Parsons hailed the Games as a “record-breaking success”, saying they featured “more athletes, more nations, more women” than any previous edition.
President of the Milan-Cortina organising committee Giovanni Malago, during his speech, hailed Paralympians’ ability to “inspire positive change in society”.
The Italian added the Games were a “beacon of unity in a world threatened by darkness and division”.
The ceremony started with a dance choreography featuring able-bodied and disabled dancers.
For the raising of the Italian flag, medallists representing the host country were brought out to rapturous applause before the national anthem was played.
Italy enjoyed its best-ever Paralympic Winter Games, winning 16 medals on home snow and finishing fourth in the table.
The opening ceremony was boycotted by several countries following the move to allow Russia and Belarus to take part in the Games under their national flags rather than as neutral competitors.
Ukraine, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland were again absent on Sunday with a volunteer carrying their national flag.
However, no country “formally informed the International Paralympic Committee that they are not attending for political reasons”, the organisation’s communications officer Craig Spence told a press conference earlier Sunday.
Contrary to the opening ceremony, there were no boos as the Russian flag entered the curling stadium in Cortina carried by double gold medallist Varvara Voronchikhina.
As the ceremony drew to its climax, the Paralympic flag was lowered and a new one was handed by Parsons to representatives of French Alps 2030 — the hosts of the next Winter Games, which will follow the same dispersed model as Milan-Cortina.
Four members of the French Paralympic team then took to the stage as La Marseillaise was played and the Tricolore raised.
Sofia Tansella, an Italian girl with spinal muscular atrophy, brought the Games to an end by extinguishing the two Paralympic cauldrons in Milan and Cortina.
China again topped the medal table with 44 medals in total, including 15 golds. The United States came in second with a total of 24 medals.
Alpine skiers Johannes Aigner and Veronika Aigner were amongst the standout performers at the Games, with the Austrian brother and sister claiming three and four gold medals, respectively.
America’s Oksana Masters further cemented her place in Paralympic lore as she won four golds and one bronze in biathlon and cross-country skiing.
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