Winter Paralympics to start with icy blast as Ukraine lead ceremony boycott

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – The Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympics start on March 6, but the atmosphere at the opening ceremony has been dampened by Ukraine leading a boycott against the presence of a handful of Russian competitors in the competition.

Ukraine’s team will skip the ceremony in Verona in protest at the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) decision to allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete under their respective national flags rather than as neutrals.

Russia and Belarus had been banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing following the invasion of Ukraine, although they were permitted to compete as neutral athletes at the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics.

Valeriy Sushkevych, president of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee, said although he was furious at the decision, boycotting the entire competition would be counterproductive.

“If we do not go, it would mean allowing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to claim a victory over Ukrainian Paralympians and over Ukraine by excluding us from the Games. That will not happen,” the 71-year-old told AFP in February.

According to the Ukrainians, they will be joined in their boycott of the ceremony by Canada, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Croatia and the Czech Republic.

The IPC’s decision also drew criticism from politicians across Europe, with the European Union saying its representative will also boycott the ceremony.

IPC president Andrew Parsons was “deeply disappointed” at the boycott. The 49-year-old Brazilian said last week the ceremony should not be “politicised”, adding there are “different ways and spaces to send messages and express views freely”.

He justified the decision by citing the vote taken at the September 2025 general assembly, which voted for both countries to return under their flags.

He added that a judgment issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December 2025 cleared the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to qualify by right for the Games.

But these arguments are unlikely to quell the disquiet or prevent protests during the quadrennial sporting extravaganza.

The president of Germany’s National Paralympic Committee, Hans-Jorg Michels, told AFP’s German subsidiary SID last week his organisation would not issue a “gag order” on athletes protesting.

“Every athlete should decide for themselves whether and how they wish to express their views,” said Michels.

What form any further protests at a ceremony usually aimed at promoting togetherness and harmony takes remains to be seen, as does the reception of the Russian and Belarusian athletes by the spectators at the historic Verona Arena.

Parsons and many others – even those sympathetic to Ukraine’s plight – will hope the extraordinary feats and stories of over 600 athletes are not lost amid the political furore on the 50th anniversary of the Paralympics.

The athletes will compete in six different sports spread out across three sites from March 6 to 15, in an event that comes hot on the heels of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

The Dolomite ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo will play host to most of the action as it welcomes the athletes for wheelchair curling, para-Alpine skiing and para-snowboarding. Milan’s Santagiulia Arena will be the setting for the para-ice hockey, while para-biathlon and para-cross-country skiing events will take place in Val di Fiemme. AFP