Where it begins: Meet Canada’s Paralympic debutants at Milano Cortina 2026

Every Canadian Paralympic story has a starting point. A frozen pond. A local club. A coach who saw something worth developing. A community that showed up.

At the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, 19 Canadian athletes will experience that moment for the first time, stepping onto the world’s biggest Para sport stage and representing their country at the Games. They are Canada’s debutants: athletes who have trained, competed, and earned their way to Italy, and whose journeys reflect exactly what the #WhereItBegins campaign is all about.

Below, we spotlight five of those athletes, their sports, their hometowns, and the moments that set everything in motion. This is where it begins.

This feature is presented by Fasken.

GILBERT DASH | WHEELCHAIR CURLING | KIPLING, SASK.

A proven international competitor prepares to take the ice at the Paralympic Games. 

Gilbert Dash arrives at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games as his wheelchair curling career reaches its highest point to date. Following three consecutive and very successful world championship podium finishes (2023, 2024, 2025), the 57-year-old curling sensation is ready to join Canada’s rink at the highest level of international competition. 

Dash grew up around the sport of curling, and considers himself a rink-rat because of just how much time he spent with his family around the ice. After he was diagnosed with a broken back and spinal cord damage following a ski-jumping crash, the Kipling, Sask. native discovered he could continue competing in the sport as a wheelchair curler. Less than two years after his accident, he had returned to the rink. 

“In one word, epic. It was amazing, the introduction, the atmosphere of the pre-game show when you’re out on the ice, it’s electric. The crowd, there’s so many Italian fans here, this place was rocking, and we had a lot of Canadians. To put on the flag and represent Canada in the wheelchair curling event and in other ways, I feel proud.”

• Dash competes in wheelchair curling at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

CHASE NICKLIN | PARA SNOWBOARD | PORT ALBERNI, B.C.

An up-and-coming Para snowboarder, ready to take the biggest international stage by storm

The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games mark the highest level of competition Chase Nicklin has faced in his career. The 21-year-old had his international debut during the 2023-24 season when he earned six medals across the Europa and North America Cup events. He had a strong season the following year when he reached the world championships and finished ninth in banked slalom and 10th in snowboard cross. 

Nicklin has looked up to Canada’s first Para snowboard champion, Tyler Turner. Turner has been like a mentor to the Port Alberni native and the two have bonded at national team training camps.

“It’s so cool, it’s so surreal. Every moment that I’ve had here is just the coolest.”

“I’ve learned a lot from those teammates, just so many little tricks and tools that I use all the time, not even just in snowboarding, in amputee life too. Just very cool hangouts.”

• Chase Nicklin competes in Para snowboard SB-LL1 at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. 

EMMA ARCHIBALD | PARA NORDIC SKIING | FALL RIVER N.S.

A fierce competitor ready to represent her country on the world’s biggest stage

Emma Archibald arrives at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games ready to compete at the biggest event of her career. The rising star made her mark at the world championships in 2025 when she finished ninth in the women’s standing 20 kilometre race and 13th in the 10 kilometre race. This season, she has finished within the top 10 in five of her six races. 

Archibald began her Para nordic skiing career in 2019, she brings with her skills and techniques she learned from her previous experience competing in track and field events. She is currently studying nursing at the University of Ottawa and trains alongside the university Nordic Team during the school year. 

“It was amazing, I was a bit stressed this morning a bit nervous, but after getting that first heat done with and being able to do it strong, I even think I came back even stronger for the semi-final so I was just really happy that I got that second chance to make it through to the semi-final.”

• Archibald reflects after her first Para nordic skiing race. She competes in the women’s standing classification at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. 

FLORENCE CARRIER | PARA ALPINE | MAGOG, QUE.

An exceptional Para skier takes slopes at the top level

Florence Carrier arrives at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games as her career reaches its highest point to date. Carrier is a technical event specialist who’s found early success in slalom and giant slalom events, including most recently at the three World Cup events she’s already competed at this season. She was promoted to the national Para alpine team in 2024-25 and has previous experience competing in the sport at the U18 level for Team Quebec. 

The 18-year-old from Magog, Que. was encouraged by her family to try many sports, but found the most success in skiing so that’s what stuck. 

“I didn’t know what to expect, so I think it was just, I knew it was going to be big, I knew there were going to be a lot of people, a lot of noise, but I don’t think I expected that much noise. I think that today, I think it just shows how capable I am, and that all the effort I put in was worth it. So, I’m going to take that with me to the next races.”

“Je ne savais pas à quoi m’attendre, donc, je pense que c’était juste, je savais que ça allait être gros, je savais qu’il y allait avoir beaucoup de monde, beaucoup de bruit, mais je ne pense pas que je m’attendais à autant de bruit. Je pense avec aujourd’hui, je pense que ça fait juste montrer à quel point, que je suis capable, puis tout l’effort que j’ai mis dedans, ça a valu quelque chose. Donc, je vais apporter ça avec moi pour les prochaines courses.”

• Carrier competes in Para alpine skiing, women’s standing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. 

MATHIEU LELIEVRE | PARA ICE HOCKEY | LÉVIS, QUE.

A powerful Para ice hockey competitor makes his debut at the highest level

Mathieu Lelièvre is competing at the highest level of Para sport for the first time in his career as he arrives at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. The 20-year-old rising-star started in all five of Canada’s Para ice hockey games at the 2025 World Championships and scored one goal.E

The defenceman, who grew up immersed in many sports, started playing Para ice hockey at age seven and received local development in the sport through Quebec’s provincial programs.

“Honestly, I feel really good. Of course, I see hockey in a way that, regardless of the event or whether it’s a practice, it’s still hockey. And I’m really not stressed out, not at all. I think I’ve prepared well for this, and as a team, we’re so close-knit that it makes everything really easy. The support is definitely incredible. I think we have over 500 family members and friends here. So it’s really incredible when you think about it.”

• Lelièvre competes in Para ice hockey at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

For each of these athletes, Milano Cortina 2026 marks the beginning of their Paralympic story, but it is far from the end. The work, the training, and the support of their communities brought them here. What happens next, they write themselves.

Follow along with Canada’s team at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games on CBC and Radio-Canada and across CPC’s social channels.