‘Athlete first, disability second’: Canada’s Paralympians chase medals in Milan‑Cortina

John Vennavally-Rao has more on the Canadian athletes participating in the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games as they aim to bring home gold.

Competitive snowboarding demands strength, balance and nerve. For Vancouver Island’s Tyler Turner, that challenge became even steeper after he lost both legs below the knee in a skydiving accident in 2017.

That didn’t stop him from winning Canada’s first gold in para snowboard at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. Now, he’s defending that title and hopes to strike gold again.

“Everyone’s coming and gunning for me,” he says. “But that just pushes me. It motivates me to push even harder and go faster, and I love it. It’s the best part of competition.”

Turner says he trains hard like any other Olympic athlete. In the summer, he still skydives and base jumps, and does cross‑training, including biking and hiking.

He says his main goal in snowboarding is simply to have fun, but he believes a byproduct is how it might inspire others to compete in para sports.

“I would encourage anyone to try sports. And if there’s an opportunity to pursue an actual Paralympic sport there is amazing, potential there for the future.”

Canada has 50 Paralympians competing in Milan and Cortina in events that include wheelchair curling and para skiing. Notably, it was 50 years ago that the first Winter Paralympic Games were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1976.

“On the 50th anniversary we have 50 athletes. It’s awesome how serendipitous that is,” says Turner.

“There’s not one athlete walking around that doesn’t have an incredible story of resilience.”

He says it feels amazing to compete for a medal for Canada, though he’s also feeling the pressure.

“I want to ride at my absolute best,” he says, adding that the track in Cortina isn’t a “100 per cent perfect fit” for him, but he believes he can win gold again.

Turner uses specialized prosthetics for snowboarding, including a foot designed by his biggest competitor on the slopes — American Mike Schultz.

“What he invented, revolutionized para snowboarding, and has taken it to an unbelievable level.”

Like Turner, Canada’s para hockey team is also gunning for gold. The team won silver at the last two Paralympic Games — both times bested by Team USA.

They will play their first game against Slovakia in Milan on Saturday.

Mac Marcoux is the honourary captain of the Canadian Paralympic Team. The former para-alpine skier has won six Paralympic medals and navigated the slopes using peripheral vision after being diagnosed with a juvenile form of macular degeneration when he was eight years old.

“The vibe is really high,” he says of the mood among the athletes.

“We have a ton of athletes who have dedicated so much time, effort, energy to have the opportunity to compete here with the maple leaf on their back.”

He says while many hope the additional challenges they’ve overcome inspire younger athletes, he also notes there’s been a shift in how para sport is portrayed.

“It’s gone from being disability first, athlete second to now, it’s athlete first,” says Marcoux adding many of them train 12 months of the year.

He says 17 of the 50 Canadian athletes are making their Paralympic Games debut.

“I think across all five sports, we have a lot of athletes to keep your eye on. It’s almost one of those things you can’t look away from because you might miss something incredible.”