There will be 39 gold medal events or men, 35 for women, and five mixed events with Alpine skiing, biathlon, and cross-country skiing offering gender parity in terms of the number of medal events, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced today.

In total there are 665 athlete quota places for the Games, which is 20 per cent higher than the 558 final entry numbers for Beijing 2022.

If all quota places are filled, then Milan Cortina 2026 will be the biggest Winter Paralympic Games to date in terms of athlete participation.

Pyeongchang 2018 currently holds the record with 564 athletes taking part.

"With just under three years to go until the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, I am really pleased that we can confirm the medal events programme and athlete quotas," said IPC President Andrew Parsons.

"The addition of a second wheelchair curling event adds a new dimension to the ice sports at the Games, while I hope that NPCs (National Paralympic Committees) and International Federations use the time remaining between now and 2026 to further develop female talent in order to fulfil the number of slots available to them."

The wheelchair curling mixed doubles event joins men's and women's team tournaments on the Milan Cortina 2026 programme.

It was approved to make its Paralympic debut by the IPC Governing Board following an application and review process.

"We're extremely happy that our newest discipline, wheelchair mixed doubles will be part of the Paralympic programme in 2026," said World Curling Federation head of competitions Eeva Roethlisberger.

"In the last two seasons we had two successful World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championships.

"At these events, alongside traditional curling nations, relatively new member associations finished on the podium. 

"It shows the discipline's strong potential, and we are very excited that it will be showcased on the Paralympic stage." 

The Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio in Cortina d'Ampezzo is due to host Milan Cortina 2026's curling events.

The venue, known in English as the Olympic Ice Stadium, was used for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as figure skating, at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina.

Work is expected to take place on the venue to improve its accessibility and make it suitable for wheelchair users at an approximate cost of €6 million (£5.2 million/$6.6 million).

Alpine skiing, biathlon and cross-country skiing will offer gender parity in terms of the number of medal events.

Alpine skiing is due to feature 190 athletes in total, competing in 30 medal events, 15 men’s and 15 women’s. 

All disciplines are set to be contested with downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and Alpine combined planned. 

In Para cross-country skiing, 170 total athletes will compete for 20 medals, including nine men's, nine women’s and two mixed team competitions.

In snowboard, 65 male athletes and 20 female athletes will compete in eight competitions. 

The men’s calendar will have six total medal events in Alpine snowboard and snowboard cross, while the women will compete for two medals.

The Para ice hockey competition is an open team tournament with eight female slots and 136 gender-free athlete slots. 

There is one medal event, with the the United States aiming to win a fifth successive Paralympic title.

Jitske Visser, chairperson of the IPC Athletes’ Council, welcomed the publication of the programme for Milan Cortina 2026. 

"It is always a special moment for an athlete when the medal event programme is announced and winter sport athletes around the world can now step up their preparations for the Games," she said.

"Of course, I would like to see a greater number of athlete slots for females at the Games, but to achieve this for future editions we need to see an increase in the talent pool globally and a greater depth of competition."

The medal events programme and athlete quotas for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games can be found here.