Ciao and greetings from Italy!
The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games are officially underway, with the Opening Ceremony in iconic Verona taking place on Friday night (local), and Paralympian #188 Corey Peters MNZM taking to the snow for day one of competition last night NZ time.
Whilst spectators were enjoying the sunny and ‘warm’ conditions (hovering around 4 degrees at the finish line), this presented challenges with snow conditions for the Paralympians. Corey’s run was solid, and it is incredible to watch him carve his craft in his sit-ski – the force that is put through his body and the ski, truly does prove that #Sit-SkiingIsNotForEveryone. And whilst Corey was disappointed with 5th place, the results sheet showed (with more than half of the field recording a Did Not Finish), just how challenging the conditions were, and he now resets for Monday for more action.
In the days leading up to the commencement of the Games, I was able to visit the Paralympic Villages in both Milano (for Para ice hockey) and Predazzo (for Para biathlon and Para cross country) to deliver a banner promoting the campaign of Paralympian #158 Adam Hall MNZM for the IPC Athletes’ Council. All three Villages are very different – Milan is a new-build and will be a legacy venue for student accommodation, Predazzo uses a series of adjacent existing sites to create one space (with a very friendly and colourful volunteer greeting everyone), and Cortina is a completely temporary venue.
Back on Adam’s campaign – he is one of five Paralympians seeking three available positions. As many of you will know, Adam is a strong advocate for the Para athlete voice, and a member of the PNZ Athletes’ Council. We are definitely biased, but think he’d be a great asset to such an important function of the Paralympic Movement globally. Paralympians at the Games get to vote until 13 March, and successfully elected candidates will be revealed at the Closing Ceremony. Keep everything crossed for a successful campaign for Adam at the Games.
We’ll continue to share more updates and insights over the week ahead, and encourage you to #TalkAboutThis with colleagues, family and friends, and continue to tune in to TVNZ Duke and TVNZ+.
Thank you to everyone that is supporting our NZ Paralympic Team, both near and far. Both Adam and Corey are incredible ambassadors for Aotearoa New Zealand, the Paralympic Movement, and Snow Sports, and we have more opportunities to get behind them as the Games continue over the coming week.
Ngā mihi and grazie!
