Para sport gains more ground on global stage in 2025

OTTAWA – After the success of the 2024 Paralympic Games, 2025 was expected to be a quieter year for Para sport. Instead, major events from tennis to ice hockey are expanding their Para competitions, marking a pivotal shift in the global sports calendar.

“Yes, Para sport is taking up more space but it’s spaces where we belong,’’ said three-time Paralympian and 2020 Paralympic bronze medallist Marissa Papaconstantinou recently at the 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships. “It’s not just ticking off a box anymore. It’s showing people that it is high performance sport.”

One of the biggest announcements was trumpeted by the International Tennis Federation, with news that professional wheelchair tennis players will have more opportunities to compete alongside their non-wheelchair peers starting in 2026.

Next year, a significant number of new UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour events will take place at ATP and WTA tournaments, creating an enhanced calendar for players with more integrated professional opportunities, higher standards at tournaments, and elevated prize money.

Already all four Grand Slam tournaments – the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open – include wheelchair tennis tournaments at its events. Now Masters Series events like the National Bank Open in Canada, Indian Wells, Shanghai Masters and Cincinnati Open could see the addition of official wheelchair tennis tournaments.

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Just last week, the National Bank Open event in Toronto provided a taste of an integrated tournament. Four Canadian players provided a wheelchair tennis exhibition competition.

“It’s clear from the many small interactions I’ve had around the grounds the last few days that featuring adaptive sport is a win-win, creating greater exposure and awareness,’’ said Canada’s women’s No. 1 player Anne-Marie Dolinar, a member of Canada’s 2023 Parapan American Games team.

The National Bank Open joined the Miami Open and Italian Open as the only ATP Masters 1000 events to host a wheelchair tennis tournament.

“To have us come here, play on the big courts, kind of shows that we belong and the work we put in is rewarded,’’ said two-time Canadian Paralympian Rob Shaw, currently ranked 10^th in the world in the quad division and headed next week to the U.S. Open. “I hope that long term, as we keep on coming back, that we can become part of the tennis culture.”

The ITF wheelchair tennis expansion is not only limited to the highest level of the game. More events are also expected to be added for the “International Tier’’ and “Development Tier.’’

“The success of wheelchair tennis at Grand Slams demonstrates the viability of integration at the highest level of sport,’’ said David Haggerty, ITF President. ‘’We are taking proactive measures to apply that model across our tour.”

Para ice hockey expands with inaugural women’s world championships

Tennis is not the only sport adding to its Para component. In less than two weeks the inaugural women’s Para ice hockey world championships gets underway in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia.

Organized by the IPC’s World Para Ice Hockey, there are six teams at the tournament: Canada, the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, Norway and a multi-nation squad called Team World.

“This isn’t just about the competition,” said Canada’s head coach Tara Chisholm. ‘’It represents the resilience, passion and determination of every woman who has ever got in a sled, fought for ice time, and believed this day would come.’’

Since 2022, World Para Ice Hockey has increased women’s participation, rising from 0.01 percent to nearly 20 percent, anchored by the first two editions of the Women’s World Challenge held in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

‘’It’s a victory for all players and volunteers, over the past two decades, who have given their time, energy, and heart to growing women’s Para ice hockey,” added Chisholm. “Now the next generation will have something they never had – a global stage to showcase their talent and a clear path forward in the sport they love.”

The tournament runs from August 26-31.

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Para athletics event being integrated at Grand Prix Diamond events

In June, the Prefontaine Classic, a Diamond League event on the World Athletics circuit, added two more Para events for its 50^th anniversary edition. In addition to the men’s and women’s 100m multiclass races that were held last year, this year’s edition also included the men’s 200m T62/T64 and women’s 800m T54.

Two Canadian Para athletics competitors were on hand: Marissa Papaconstantinou and NextGen wheelchair racer Nandini Sharma.

“It’s amazing a lot of the Diamond Leagues are making efforts to include Para races,’’ Papaconstantinou told CBC’s Athletics podcast show. ‘’These events show the different classes and the different abilities Para athletes have. It was pretty awesome to be a part of the Prefontaine Classic.”

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World University Games add first Para events

Another major Games became integrated in 2025. The World University Games, also known as Universiade, opened its doors to Para athletes at both its winter and summer Games in 2025.

The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, which concluded late last month, included a 3×3 wheelchair basketball tournament with eight men’s and eight women’s teams competing.

Unfortunately, a tight schedule prevented Canada from competing. Its national teams, which includes several students, were preparing for the 3X3 worlds and the Americas Cup tournament taking place in August.

Just a few months earlier at the Winter Universiade in Torino, Italy, Para student-athletes competed in both alpine and cross-country skiing.

Charles Lecours, an accounting sciences major at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, was Canada’s sole entry and won a bronze medal in the men’s standing event in cross country skiing.

From the dry, frozen and wet playing field to major Games, Para sport is no longer an afterthought — it’s reshaping the sports calendar and redefining what belongs on the world stage.

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