Emanuel Perathoner is competing in the Paralympic Games. © FISI

South Tyrol and the Paralympics: A special story

Following the conclusion of the Winter Olympics, the Winter Paralympics begin on Friday, receiving considerably less media attention. Nevertheless, it is a major global event. A look back – with a focus on South Tyrol.

March 05, 2026

By: christof.thöny

Since 1992, it has been customary to hold the Paralympic Winter Games at the same location as the Olympic Winter Games. The first competitions of this kind took place in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in 1976. This year, the Paralympic Winter Games celebrate their 50th anniversary.

The idea for the Paralympic Games arose after the Second World War, modeled on the modern Olympic ideal. The aim was to create a platform for competitive sporting events for people with physical – and to a limited extent, intellectual – disabilities. The latter have their own platform in the Special Olympics, founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of former US President John F. Kennedy. A precursor to the Paralympic Summer Games was the Stoke Mandeville Games, which physician Ludwig Guttmann established for the 1948 London Olympics as a sporting competition for disabled wheelchair users.

A picture from the first Paralympics in the distant year of 1976.

The first official Paralympic Winter Games opened in February 1976, about a month after the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. The venue was the small Swedish town of Örnsköldsvik in the Norrland region. The field of participants consisted of approximately 250 athletes representing 16 different nations. Fifty years ago, the sporting events were limited to alpine and cross-country skiing. In contrast, over the next nine days, competitions in six sports will take place, with participants from 56 nations expected in Milan and Cortina.

Perathoner on the hunt for medals

Seven athletes from South Tyrol have been nominated for Italy's 40-strong squad for the competitions now starting: the six para-hockey players Julian Kasslatter (43 years old, St. Christina), Alex Enderle (27, Eppan), Christoph Depaoli (28, Kaltern), Stephan Kafmann (39, Kaltern), Nils Larch (28, Sterzing) and Matteo Remotti Marnini (26, Bolzano), as well as snowboarder Emanuel Perathoner.

They could continue a long string of successes that began in Innsbruck in 1984 with a bronze medal for Bruno Oberhammer in the alpine combined and continued in Innsbruck in 1988 with gold medals for Bruno Oberhammer (downhill and giant slalom) and Paolo Lorenzini (para cross-country skiing, 30 kilometers), as well as bronze for Josef Erlacher in the downhill. Since then, South Tyrolean athletes have won 37 medals at these competitions in various sports.

From the neighboring region, however, para-alpine ski racer Giacomo Bertagnolli will be competing. He is considered one of the big stars of the host nation Italy, which will be the stage for this major global event starting Friday.