What, who and the way to watch : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5694x3796+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faf%2Fd8%2F4ce86fe44b4eb5f645b2d4148922%2Fgettyimages-2264639379.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5694x3796+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faf%2Fd8%2F4ce86fe44b4eb5f645b2d4148922%2Fgettyimages-2264639379.jpg" class="img" alt="The Paralympic logo, the Agitos, is seen in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy." fetchpriority="high"/> The Paralympic emblem, the Agitos, is seen in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy forward of the opening ceremony on March 6. They run by way of March 15. Mattia Ozbot/Getty Photographs disguise caption

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Mattia Ozbot/Getty Photographs The 2026 Winter Paralympic Video games kick off Friday in Italy, on the identical historical amphitheater in Verona the place the Olympics formally wrapped up final month.

Milan Cortina marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Winter Paralympics, which occur each 4 years in the identical host metropolis because the Winter Olympics. It is the third Paralympics to happen in Italy, after the inaugural 1960 version in Rome and the 2006 Video games in Turin.

This time, they — just like the Olympics — will likely be scattered throughout northern Italy, with competitions clustered in Milan, Cortina D'Ampezzo and Val di Fiemme.

Over 10 days, some 665 of the world's prime athletes with bodily, visible and mental disabilities will compete for a document 79 medals throughout six sports activities: para Alpine snowboarding, para biathlon, para cross-country snowboarding, para ice hockey, para snowboard and wheelchair curling.

The U.S. is represented by 68 athletes (and 4 guides), lots of whom are embellished, multi-season Paralympic veterans. It has the second-largest contingent after China, which dominated the medal rely for the primary time on the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. Staff USA stays the all-time chief in Winter Paralympic medals and is wanting so as to add to its assortment.

This is what to know as you comply with the motion.

How do I tune in? Friday's opening ceremony will likely be broadcast by NBC, on-line and on Peacock, reside at 2 p.m. ET and once more in primetime at 8 p.m.

The "Life in Movement"-themed occasion is about to incorporate musical performances by The Police's drummer Stewart Copeland and Italian home music group Meduza, amongst others. The 56 collaborating delegations will march in a customary Parade of Nations, with the U.S. flag carried by two of the nation's most embellished Paralympians: four-time sled hockey champion Josh Pauls and seven-time Alpine snowboarding medalist Laurie Stephens.

That opens a week-and-a-half of competitors, culminating within the closing ceremony in Cortina on Sunday, March 15.

Alongside the way in which, NBC says it would provide a document eight hours of Winter Paralympics protection on TV, together with primetime home windows on each Saturdays. The primary will cowl opening ceremony highlights and medal occasions from the primary full day of competitors, whereas the second will give attention to prime performances and U.S. Paralympians.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4017x2595+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4f%2Fb6%2F25864f1942ef820907a8f25db19f%2Fgettyimages-2265063053.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4017x2595+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4f%2Fb6%2F25864f1942ef820907a8f25db19f%2Fgettyimages-2265063053.jpg" class="img" alt="Team USA's Brenna Huckaby trains in Cortina on the day of the opening ceremony." loading="lazy"/> Staff USA's Brenna Huckaby trains in Cortina on the day of the opening ceremony. Linnea Rheborg/Getty Photographs disguise caption

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Linnea Rheborg/Getty Photographs The community is promising much more complete protection on Peacock, which it says will stream each sport and occasion reside, together with full-event replays and viewing experiences like discovery multiview. There will even be cable viewing choices, from USA Community on weekdays and CNBC on weekends. You possibly can view NBC's full schedule right here.

The Paralympics historically get much less protection and viewership than the Olympics, although Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 continued to set and smash data.

Since then, a bunch of Paralympic athletes has launched Culxtured, a media collective devoted to elevating para sports activities. Co-founder Brenna Huckaby, a U.S. snowboarder and four-time Paralympic medalist, calls it a "one-stop store for para sport," each when it comes to serving to audiences comply with alongside and serving to athletes develop their very own platforms.

"Visibility is large," Huckaby instructed reporters in October. "If you happen to do not see your self represented, how have you learnt you are able to do it?"

Who — and what — ought to I be following? A number of the greatest storylines heading into the Video games contain longtime rivalries and new competitions.

The U.S.-Canada hockey rivalry continues, recent off Staff USA's two Olympic victories.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5784x4000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F33%2F93%2F80683040434db59db7fa5e6e9429%2Fgettyimages-2264688476.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5784x4000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F33%2F93%2F80683040434db59db7fa5e6e9429%2Fgettyimages-2264688476.jpg" class="img" alt="Para sled hockey athlete Josh Pauls, seen with teammates Kevin Dodson and Declan Farmer, reacts to being named one of Team USA's opening ceremony flagbearers in late February in Italy." loading="lazy"/> Para sled hockey athlete Josh Pauls, seen with teammates Kevin Dodson and Declan Farmer, reacts to being named one among Staff USA's opening ceremony flagbearers in late February in Italy. Elsa/Getty Photographs disguise caption

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Elsa/Getty Photographs Now, the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey workforce goes after a document fifth consecutive gold medal (and sixth total).

To win it, Individuals must maintain off their major challenger, Canada, which gained silver within the final two Paralympics and the World Para Ice Hockey Champions in 2024, although the U.S. beat them to reclaim that title in 2025. The U.S. is fielding yet one more robust workforce, captained by Pauls and together with many seasoned veterans, together with all-time main scorer Declan Farmer, ahead Brody Roybal and goaltender Jen Lee.

If historical past is any indication, the 2 groups might as soon as once more make the gold medal match on the final day of the Video games.

There's loads to look at earlier than then, together with a whopping 81 wheelchair curling matches. The competitors — and one other curling scandal — bought underway even earlier than the opening ceremony, when two stones have been reported stolen from the Cortina venue. This yr additionally marks the Paralympic debut of wheelchair curling's blended doubles occasions, that includes the American duo of Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5366x3448+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F96%2F2f%2F00678c074867915776d9a2a73ea2%2Fgettyimages-2264802184.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5366x3448+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F96%2F2f%2F00678c074867915776d9a2a73ea2%2Fgettyimages-2264802184.jpg" class="img" alt="Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer of the U.S. celebrate following their victory in an early wheelchair curling mixed doubles Round Robin match on Wednesday. " loading="lazy"/> Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer of the U.S. rejoice following their victory in an early wheelchair curling blended doubles Spherical Robin match on Wednesday. That is the occasion's Paralympic debut. Mattia Ozbot/Getty Photographs disguise caption

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Mattia Ozbot/Getty Photographs Many Individuals wish to defend previous Paralympic titles. They embrace Huckaby, who was the one U.S. snowboarder to win gold (two medals, truly) in 2022.

At those self same Video games, Oksana Masters turned the primary American to win seven medals (in biathlon and cross-country) in a single Paralympics. Masters, probably the most embellished U.S. Paralympian ever, is wanting so as to add a twentieth medal — or extra — to her assortment, regardless of a sequence of accidents, infections and a latest concussion that she revealed on Instagram simply days earlier than the Video games. Her fiancé, Aaron Pike, a nine-time world medalist in para biathlon, is eyeing his first medal at his eighth Paralympics.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2913x4370+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F30%2Fa0%2F162a83c24a748362d6d28eb05f8b%2Fgettyimages-1384448198.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2913x4370+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F30%2Fa0%2F162a83c24a748362d6d28eb05f8b%2Fgettyimages-1384448198.jpg" class="img" alt="Oksana Masters and Aaron Pike, teammates and now fiancés, hug after a competition at the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. " loading="lazy"/> Oksana Masters and Aaron Pike, teammates and now fiancés, hug after a contest on the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. Italy is the eighth Paralympics for each of them. Michael Steele/Getty Photographs disguise caption

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Michael Steele/Getty Photographs There are additionally rising U.S. stars making their Paralympic debuts, like teenage Alpine skiers Meg Gustafson and Audrey Crowley, snowboarder Kate Delson and sled hockey gamers Kayden Beasley, Brett Bolton, Liam Cunningham and Landon Uthke.

The inevitable feats of athleticism and sportsmanship are set to unfold in opposition to a backdrop of higher-than-usual geopolitical tensions, amidst a number of ongoing wars.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran after weeks of failed nuclear negotiations, days after the Olympic closing ceremony in late February, violating the symbolic Olympic truce and prompting retaliatory strikes throughout the Center East. Iran will not be represented within the Paralympics, officers mentioned Friday, as a result of its sole athlete is unable to journey safely.

In the meantime, a complete of 10 athletes from Russia and Belarus are allowed to compete on the Paralympics underneath their very own flags — regardless of their ongoing warfare in Ukraine — slightly than as impartial athletes, like a number of Olympians did final month. This marks the primary time a Russian flag will likely be flown on the Paralympics since 2014. Some half-dozen European international locations, in addition to the U.Ok., are boycotting the opening ceremony in protest.

Remind me how the Paralympics work? The Paralympics have their roots in a British hospital for World Warfare II veterans with spinal accidents, which organized a wheelchair archery competitors — referred to as the Stoke Mandeville Video games — along side the 1948 Olympics in London.

These expanded into the Paralympic Video games in Rome in 1960, and have been held each 4 years since. The primary Winter Paralympics passed off in Sweden in 1976, that includes fewer than 200 athletes competing in simply two sports activities: Para alpine snowboarding and Para cross-country snowboarding.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4956x3686+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa2%2F7f%2F35b309fb4fc09d19fe9fd98f1cf3%2Fgettyimages-156826079.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4956x3686+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa2%2F7f%2F35b309fb4fc09d19fe9fd98f1cf3%2Fgettyimages-156826079.jpg" class="img" alt="The Italian team at the Olympic village in Rome before the start of the first international Paralympic Games in September 1960." loading="lazy"/> The Italian workforce on the Olympic village in Rome earlier than the beginning of the primary worldwide Paralympic Video games in September 1960. Keystone/Hulton Archive disguise caption

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Keystone/Hulton Archive The Paralympics are supposed to be held in tandem with the Olympics — it is actually within the identify. They usually have shared the identical cities and venues for the reason that Summer time Video games of 1988 and the Winter Video games of 1992, usually about two weeks aside.

There are some key variations between the 2 actions, like their distinct governing our bodies, logos (Olympic rings vs. Paralympic "Agitos" aka crescents) and mascots (on this case, Tina the stoat has handed the winter torch to her sibling, Milo).

The Paralympics characteristic athletes with eight sorts of bodily disabilities (together with limb deficiency and impaired muscle energy) in addition to imaginative and prescient and mental impairment. They're grouped into competitors classes based mostly on the "diploma of exercise limitation ensuing from their impairments."

"One of many greatest misconceptions is that we're precisely just like the Olympics, simply disabled," Huckaby mentioned. "However … my sport, whereas it is similar to its Olympic cousin, our technique is totally different, our programs are totally different, the way in which we go about racing is simply totally different. And that distinction is not lower than; that distinction is only a totally different sport."

Athletes within the snowboarding sports activities, for instance, compete in both standing, sitting or imaginative and prescient impaired classes. Para curling, in contrast to its Olympic counterpart, does not permit sweeping. And para ice hockey gamers use specialised sleds and two sticks as an alternative of 1.

"And that is actually the most important distinction within the sport, and that is what sort of drives it to be such a novel sport, as a result of having these two sticks, it truly results in loads much less possession than you see in stand-up hockey," mentioned Farmer, a four-time Paralympian at age 28.

Para athletes all instructed NPR that they hope folks will take note of their sports activities, even when it means having to study a factor or two about them (as many Olympic and Paralympic viewers are used to doing each 4 years). Huckaby, the snowboarder, says, "If you happen to take a minute to find out about para sport, you may be a para sport fan."

"And when you turn out to be a fan, share it with your pals, with your loved ones, together with your neighbors, as a result of the extra those that find out about it, the extra followers we'll have," she added. "And the extra followers we've, the extra demand for broadcasting. The extra demand for broadcasting, it is truly going to occur and the motion's going to develop."