Milano Cortina Paralympics Open: Games Represent a Wish for Inclusion in Turbulent Times

Editorial

15:35 JST, March 7, 2026

The world order is facing a crisis. The sight of athletes competing fairly according to rules should powerfully convey the preciousness of living together, regardless of disability or nationality.

The curtain rises on the Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games. Over 10 days until March 15, there will be 79 events across six sports, with about 650 athletes from around the world scheduled to compete. Like the Olympics that concluded last month, competition venues are spread across a wide area in northern Italy.

Forty-four Japanese athletes will participate in the Games. Expectations are high for athletes such as Taiki Kawayoke, who won gold in para cross-country skiing at the previous Beijing Games to become Japan’s youngest male medalist at 21, and para alpine skier Taiki Morii, who holds seven medals in total.

It is hoped that they will fully demonstrate the results of the efforts they have accumulated so far. Their good performances on this grand stage should also serve as a driving force to invigorate para sports in Japan.

In recent years, barriers between able-bodied athletes and para athletes have been getting lower in the Japanese sports world. Junichi Kawai, a Paralympic swimming gold medalist who is completely blind, was appointed commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency.

Last year, Ayumi Tanimoto, an Olympic judo medalist, became chairperson of the Japanese Paralympic Committee’s sports committee.

In winter sports, cases are increasing in which able-bodied athletes serve as coaches for events such as wheelchair curling. It is hoped that this “Olympic-Paralympic collaboration” continues to advance steadily.

It is only regrettable that the shadow of war has fallen over this sporting festival that aims for an inclusive society.

Athletes from Russia, which has engaged in aggression against Ukraine, and athletes from Russia’s ally Belarus are representing their countries in competition this time.

Those countries’ athletes were barred from participating in the previous Beijing Games. At the Paris Summer Games two years ago, they were only permitted to compete as individuals, not representing their countries. The Olympics that concluded last month also saw them participate as individuals.

However, the International Paralympic Committee decided at its general assembly meeting last year to lift the suspension from competition imposed on both countries. In response, Ukraine announced that it would boycott the opening ceremony.

Last year, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution for an “Olympic Truce” during and around this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. Despite this, the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The United States is the host country for the Summer Games in Los Angeles two years from now.

The Paralympic Games are said to have originated as competitions for soldiers wounded in World War II. Nations should recall that a wish for peace lies at the heart of these Games.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 7, 2026)