Paralympians cope with warmer conditions as the IOC considers moving the Games earlier in winter

Category: (Self-Study) Sports

Storyline

Hide Storyline

At the Milan Cortina Paralympics, some athletes competed in shorts, T-shirts, and tank tops. One skier lamented “tropical” conditions, and a snowboarder complained that soft, slow snow put him at a disadvantage. And some worried about their safety.

The warm weather at the Paralympics, which ran from March 6 to 15, had some athletes asking: Should these Games be held earlier in the year when cold weather is more reliable?

“The Paralympics, it’s the most physically demanding event for Para athletes. It’s the thing we all train for,” said American Para snowboarder Zach Miller. “It’s where we’re all putting it out on the line. And when we’re dealing with these spring snow conditions and this slush, it makes it even more difficult, even more demanding.”

And the problem isn’t just that it’s uncomfortable—warm snow actually changes how courses behave. Soft or slushy snow can create friction that hinders speed and control. Experts say control is essential for Para athletes.

“One of our Olympic athletes skiing on variable conditions, it’s gonna be riskier, certainly,” said Dr. Sarah Eby, head team physician for the U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team. “But they’ve got two knees. They’ve got all of their muscles working right when they need them to work. Thinking about our Para athletes, maybe they only have one leg. They’re relying more on equipment that they can’t adjust.”

Miller, the snowboarder, said warming conditions lead athletes to try to “minimize mistakes and ride conservative, because everything you’re going to do is going to be punished out there on the snow.” He added, “You’re worried about your own safety on course. You don’t feel like you can be the athlete that you know you are.”

The early March warmth in northern Italy, where the Games were held, would be “almost impossible” without the influence of climate change, said Shel Winkley, a Climate Central meteorologist. Researchers say the places that can reliably host a Winter Games will shrink because of climate change.

This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.

Script

Hide Script

[Claire Petit of the Netherlands competing in the alpine skiing women’s downhill standing competition]

[Mark Arendz of Canada crossing the finish line to win the bronze medal in the cross-country skiing men’s 10Km interval start classic standing final]

[Sparse snow seen during the cross-country skiing women’s 10Km interval start sitting final]

[Yurika Abe of Japan and Brittany Hudak of Canada, competing in the cross-country skiing women’s 10Km interval start classic standing final]

[Alice Morelius of Sweden competing in the cross-country skiing women’s 10Km interval start classic standing final]

Zach Miller (interview): “The Paralympics is already one of, if not, I’ll just say it’s the most physically demanding event for Para athletes. It’s the thing we all train for. It’s where we’re all putting it out on the line. And when we’re dealing with these spring snow conditions and this slush, it makes it even more difficult, even more demanding.”

[Fred Warburton of Britain after competing in the alpine skiing men’s downhill VI competition]

[Kelsey O’Driscoll of the United States checking the track before competing in the alpine skiing women’s super-G standing final]

[Amanda Reid of Australia being evacuated after crashing]

Dr. Sarah Eby (interview): “Certainly, they’re world-class athletes. They’re used to training in variable and difficult conditions, but when we see those changing conditions that can create more risk for injury.”

[Able-bodied Olympian Mikaela Shiffrin skiing during an alpine ski, women’s World Cup super-G]

[Guilherme Rocha of Brazil competing in the cross-country skiing men’s 10Km interval start sitting final]

[Anna-Lena Forster of Germany competing in the alpine skiing women’s downhill sitting competition]

Dr. Sarah Eby (interview): “One of our Olympic athletes skiing on variable conditions, it’s gonna be more challenging, certainly. It’s gonna be riskier, certainly. But they’ve got two knees, they’ve got all of their muscles working right when they need them to work. They’re able to react, and to navigate, and adjust on the fly as needed. Thinking about our Para athletes, maybe they only have one leg. They’re relying more on equipment that they can’t adjust.”

[Boy sitting on a patch of grass]

Zach Miller (interview): “All of this is going down in basically the middle of March, where we’re greeted with spring conditions, and it left us with basically this big, slushy, deep, constantly evolving course.”

[Zach Miller and Keith Gabel of the United States, and Alex Massie of Canada, competing in a men’s snowboard cross SB-LL2 semifinal]

[Lee Jehyuk of South Korea and Sun Qi of China competing in a men’s snowboard cross SB-LL2 quarterfinal]

[Théo Gmür of Switzerland crashing after crossing the finish line]

Zach Miller (interview): “Suddenly, the tactics aren’t about trying to race fast, but trying to minimize mistakes and ride conservative because everything you’re going to do is going to be punished out there on the snow. And it fully takes away from our Paralympic experience.”

[Jeroen Kampschreur of the Netherlands crossing the finish line]

[Allie Johnson of the United States after her run in the alpine skiing women’s downhill standing competition]

Zach Miller (interview): “You’re worried about your own safety on course. You don’t feel like you can be the athlete that you know you are.”

[Daniel Cnossen of the United States getting ready to compete]

[Guilherme Rocha of Brazil walking at the course]

Shel Winkley (interview): “What we know with those warmer-than-average temperatures in northern Italy this past week and will continue through the Games, is that they have a strong fingerprint of climate change. We can use attribution science to understand that these temperatures that we’re experiencing are impacted by climate change, and some of these days that we’ve seen this warmth would be almost virtually impossible without a fingerprint of climate change to it.”

[Romanian Paralympic snowboarder Mihaita Papara after a training session]

[Details of Papara’s boots on his snowboard]

Craig Spence (interview): “We’ve seen temperatures rising at the Paralympic Winter Games for the last few editions now. Clearly, steps may need to be taken to look at alternative dates to ensure the best fields of play for our athletes.”

[Elena Regina de Sena Souza of Brazil putting on her prosthetic leg and zipping her pants after competing]

[Norway’s Bernt Marius Roerstad’s ski boots in slushy snow during competition]

[Christina Picton of Canada competing in the cross-country skiing women’s 10Km interval start sitting final]

Zach Miller (interview): “If it were my decision, I would absolutely move the Olympics and Paralympics farther up and back into the calendar year to start earlier, so that way the conditions can just be more stable.”

[Claire Petit of the Netherlands competing in the alpine skiing women’s downhill standing competition]

[Silver medalist Rene de Silvestro of Italy, gold medalist Jeroen Kampschreur of the Netherlands, and bronze medalist Niels de Langen, also of the Netherlands, posing on the podium]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.