In three weeks, American athletes will race down Italian mountains for Paralympic gold. Quick — name three of them. Can’t do it? You’re not alone, and that’s a problem.
We’re just three weeks out from the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Milano Cortina in Italy — and it still feels like nobody knows who’s actually on Team USA.
A friend of mine, a sports media veteran with 30 years of experience, texted me the other day:
“The Paralympics are 30 days away, and I don’t know who’s on the team. Why is the roster more mysterious than the [Jeffrey] Epstein files?”
He’s not wrong.
Here’s the situation: The 2026 U.S. Paralympic Team for Milano Cortina is being announced on a rolling basis. So far, only a few athletes have been confirmed. The full roster won’t be announced until March 2. That’s just four days before the Opening Ceremony on March 6. Four days!
Four days to introduce the full team to the country. Four days to build storylines. Four days for families, fans and media to catch up.
As editor-in-chief of Sports N Spokes, I can tell you it’s terribly frustrating.
Imagine trying to cover Team USA when you don’t even know who’s on the team. How do you plan features, schedule interviews or build momentum when half the roster is still “TBD”?
We want to spotlight these athletes properly — tell their stories, share their sacrifices and introduce them to fans the right way. That takes time.
When the final roster drops just days before the Opening Ceremony, everyone scrambles. The athletes deserve a runway moment, not a rushed rollout. We’re ready to tell their stories. We just need the full team.
So why the delay?
It’s not random. It’s mostly timing and bureaucracy. For example, some selections rely on world rankings that don’t lock in until Feb. 15.
Different sports. Different governing bodies. Different timelines. A logistical puzzle with moving pieces right up until the last minute.
But there’s another factor: visibility.
The Paralympics barely get mentioned until the Olympics wrap up. Maybe it’s a programming strategy. Maybe it’s marketing bandwidth. The result is always the same: less buildup, less buzz, less spotlight … and then suddenly it’s go time.
I was on Team USA in 1996. I remember the grind. The years of preparation. The stress. Training is already a full-time mental battle. Waiting until just a few days before the Opening Ceremony? That’s next-level anxiety.
So, I keep coming back to this question: Is this just how the system has to work, or could it work better? Athletes deserve clarity, fans deserve stories and Team USA deserves momentum.
Because four days’ notice doesn’t feel strategic. It feels like an afterthought.
As always, please share your thoughts at al@pvamag.com.