Ciao and greetings from Italy!
On the penultimate day of competition, I was fortunate to witness Paralympic history, as the Canadian Mixed Wheelchair curling Team, became the first Team to not only remain undefeated during the round robin stages of the event, but also win the gold medal.
In a tightly contested match against China, where scores remained level after seven ends, the Canadian Team secured victory with absolute precision, placing their final stone as close to the mark as possible, to take victory. Joining Canada and China on the podium, were Sweden, who secured the bronze medal the day prior with a win over Korea.
The atmosphere within the purpose-built curling centre was similar to that of a European football match – with noise levels heard well outside the building, as a combination of Canadian and Chinese fans, were joined by spectators from other competing nations, and lots of locals. This was simply the hottest ticket of the day and the competition lived up to its all-star billing.
Number for the day – 33 – that is the number of individual pieces that join together to form the medal podium for the Wheelchair curling Mixed Team event (including ramps on both sides), plus one centre piece displaying the IPC agitos symbol. A key function of the podium design, is ensuring that the front and the back of the podium includes a sufficiently raised edge – important to ensure that the Paralympians are unable to roll forward when receiving their medals and gifts as part of the victory ceremony.
A Paralympic flame has been burning brightly, day and night, in central Cortina in an impressive sculpture, fitting of such an important symbol of the Paralympic Movement.
As reported by the IPC, the Paralympic Flame was created on 24 February in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom, the spiritual birthplace of the Paralympic Movement. From there, it travelled to Italy, with Turin, the first stop on its national journey. The Flame’s journey has paid tribute to Italy’s Paralympic history, from the first edition of the Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960 to Torino 2006, when Italy hosted the Paralympic Winter Games for the first time.
It’s hard to believe, that tomorrow the Paralympic flame will be extinguished, and the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games will come to a conclusion. And with that, will also close another NZ Paralympic Team campaign. Paralympian #188 Corey Peters MNZM will carry the flag for New Zealand at the Closing Ceremony, and I encourage you to not only tune in (or catch-up via TVNZ+) to see Paralympian #158 Adam Hall MNZM in action on the final day of competition, but also to catch the broadcast coverage of the Para ice hockey gold medal match between arch rivals Canada and USA, and the closing celebration, as this edition of the Paralympic Winter Games concludes.
Ngā mihi and grazie!
