Britain to boost Winter Paralympic targets after ending Games with solitary medal | Winter Paralympics 2026

UK Sport is about to boost efficiency targets for the following Winter Paralympics after Great Britain returned from Milano-Cortina with solely a single silver medal.

ParalympicsGB didn’t hit a lowered goal of two to 5 medals in Italy, with solely Neil Simpson making the rostrum following a second-placed end within the males’s visually impaired alpine mixture snowboarding. On Sunday Simpson didn’t end both of his runs within the VI slalom, placing a last finish to hopes of additional success.

UK Sport determines public funding for Olympic and Paralympic sport and their director of efficiency, Dr Kate Baker, stated there was delight to be taken from many performances on the Games. However, she stated questions would additionally should be requested over the longer term route of the British winter Paralympic programme.

“I don’t think we could ever be disappointed in this group but I think we’re all committed to making sure that performance happens [at the 2030 Games],” Baker stated. “Performance is the thing that gives us the platform to do all of the other important stuff that we’re doing out here.”

Asked if UK Sport would set the next medal goal for 2030 when the winter Olympic and Paralympic video games will likely be held within the French Alps, Baker stated: “Yes.”

UK Sport will now undertake a evaluate course of that’s anticipated to be accomplished by the summer time. “Of course we remain committed to Winter Paralympic sport,” Baker stated, “but it’s also important that we do things in a way which is efficient and effective.”

Baker raised doubts over whether or not Britain can successfully compete in some winter Paralympic sports activities, particularly the Nordic occasions of cross-country snowboarding and biathlon. Together the occasions kind a 3rd of the winter Paralympic programme, however just one British athlete certified for competitors, Scott Meenagh, and he completed no greater than 14th in his 4 occasions.

“For disciplines like slalom and curling, you can do those in the UK,” Baker stated. “You can do it at a dry slope or you can do it at a low peak. I think we need to be realistic about our prospects across a wider range beyond that. Getting out on snow is a challenge. It’s a challenge because of Schengen restrictions. It’s a challenge because of climate change. But it’s an absolute non-negotiable. [Without that] we’re not going to be blessed with a wide base of people who are going to meet the classification and be physiologically the kind of specimen that would be required to be successful.”

ParalympicsGB’s chef de mission on the winter video games, Phil Smith, stated outcomes had “obviously been tough” however that there was cause to be optimistic for 2030. “I still believe there’s a lot of positives that we can take from this going forward,” he stated. “If you ran this week again, we could [have been] in the middle of that target with just a little bit more luck.

“I don’t think we need to completely start fresh, but I do think there’s some areas that the sport will need to look at. I think we would obviously want to say it after this week, but in 2030, there is an opportunity for us to continue to lay a marker down that we can be really competitive in Winter Paralympic sport.”