Up to eight Spanish athletes will fight for medals at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games, which will be held from March 6 to 15 and can be followed live on Teledeporte and RTVE Play.
Audrey Pascual, María Martín-Granizo, Javier Marcos, Emilio Redondo and Higinio Rivero They were in principle the representatives of the Spanish team, but last week they joined the group Iraide Rodríguez and Alejandra Requesens and their guide, Victoria Ibáñezafter receiving nominal invitations.
These incorporations mean that, for the first time, Spain has more women than men in the Paralympic Gamesa new milestone that opens thanks to sport and where the young skier from Madrid, Audrey Pascual, will be the standard bearer at the opening ceremony that will take place on Friday the 6th in the same place where the Olympic Games last February were closed, the Arena di Verona.
Audrey Pascual, the golden hope of Spain
Precisely, the para alpine skier from Madrid is, at 21 years old, Spain’s great hope for gold in Milano Cortina, backed by a great season where she has reaped the World Cup Crystal Globe in the supergiant. He also won the silver medal at the Maribor World Championships last year in the sitting slalom and came close to bronze with his fourth place in the sitting giant slalom.
Furthermore, you can boast of having 14 gold, 20 silver and seven bronze in the World Cup.
A great progression that places her as the Spanish reference to reach the top of the podium, a condition of favorite that she hopes to meet and with which she does not feel any pressure, as she made clear in an interview in EFE.
“The result in the end doesn’t just depend on me. I will try to do what is in my powerwhich is a good competition, and show what I know how to do. Then winning a medal would be something nice, I’m not going to deny it, although my mind is not set there. Obviously I would like to win a medal but above all be happy with the participation,” the surfer also assured in the interview in EFE.
Audrey is a versatile athlete and her qualities are not limited to the snow. In 2024, the young woman became Para surf world champion in Huntington, United States.
The Madrid native will compete until five tests in the Milano Cortina Paralympic Games 2026: Saturday, March 7 from 9:30 a.m. (Sitting descent); Monday, March 9 from 9:30 a.m. (Seated Supergiant); Tuesday, March 10 from 9:00 a.m. (Seated Alpine Combined); Thursday, March 12 from 9:00 a.m. (Seated Giant Slalom) and Saturday, March 14 from 9:00 a.m. (Seated Slalom).
María Martín-Granizo, the hope of a future that is already present
María Martín-Granizo can boast of being the second youngest of the Spanish delegation in Milano Cortina, where she will debut in the Paralympic Games for the first time at the age of 19 thanks to her great progress in recent times.
The Spanish Para skier, who was born with a femoral agenesis in the right legwill participate in the slalom and giant slalom tests in adapted alpine skiing. In addition to sharing the test with Audrey, although not in the same category, she can also boast of being a world surfing champion, her other great passion.
But returning to her track record in the mountains, the Leonese began to stand out thanks to being Spanish champion on several occasions, which led her to the Allianz Winter Sports Paralympic Promise Team and, from there, to her participation in the 2023 and 2025 World Cups. His greatest achievements have been achieved recently, with two bronzes obtained in Veysonnaz -Switzerland- in the World Cup.
The Leonese will compete in two events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games: Thursday, March 12 from 9:00 a.m. (standing giant slalom) and Saturday, March 14 from 9:00 a.m. (standing slalom).
Javier Marcos, Spain’s male asset in alpine skiing
Javier Marcos is one of the veterans of Spanish adapted alpine skiing, although it will be his first Paralympic Games. He is one of the three male members of the team and at 35 years old he has had a very rapid rise that has culminated in his qualification for the Winter Olympics.
The man from Madrid suffered a bike accident that left him in a wheelchair. Since then he went through a recovery process where he once again felt the competitive spirit of the sport with badminton.before going to the mountain.
He has also been part of the Allianz Paralympic Promise Teamwhere he was training and progressing for three seasons. Now, the Para skier is a regular at the World Cup. His best results have been achieved in Kubinska Hola -Slovakia- and in Abtenau -Austria-, just before facing his Olympic event.
The one from Villanueva del Pardillo will compete in two events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games: Friday, March 13 from 9:00 a.m. (seated giant slalom) and Sunday, March 15 from 9:00 a.m. (seated slalom).
Emilio Redondo, Spain’s option in snowboarding
Emilio Redondo is another young Para athlete who will be the representative of the Spanish delation in Snowboard, the sport that changed his life after suffering a motorcycle accident at the age of 19 in which he lost a foot.
Since then, this 25-year-old young man from Toledo has stuck to the snowboard until he reaches what will be his first Paralympic Winter Games. Despite being far from the snow and having been born in a town with no tradition for this type of sports, Villacañas, Emilio chose snowboarding as his discipline after suffering the accident that caused him to lose his left foot.
His rise in this sport has been meteoric and in 2023 he already participated in the World Cup held in La Molina, in the Catalan Pyrenees, where he achieved a more than creditable eleventh place in banked and twelfth in cross. His greatest achievements have been obtained in the European Cup, where he achieved two golds, one in banked slalom and the other in snow cross, both in küthai 2025.
The one from Villacañas will compete two tests at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games: Saturday, March 7 from 12:00 p.m. (men’s cross country qualification); Sunday, March 8 from 11:00 a.m. (men’s cross country qualifying) and Saturday, March 14 from 11:00 a.m. (men’s banked slalom).
Higinio Rivero, from the Summer Games to those in Milano Cortina
Higinio Rivero is an example of improvement and can boast, at 43 years old, not only of being the oldest member of the Spanish delegation in Milano Cortina, but he will also have the honor of be the first Spaniard to compete in three sports different in Summer and Winter Games: canoeing, biathlon and cross-country skiing.
His thing is canoeing, where he found his place after suffering an accident while climbing in 2013 that left him in a wheelchair. Since then, his spirit of improvement and restlessness has led him to represent Spain in the Paralympic Games of Tokyo, where he achieved his best positionsixth. He was also in the last ones in Paris, where he was ninth. His most recent success, before focusing fully on snow, has been the bronze achieved in the European Race Races.
But the challenge of canoeing has fallen short and his transition to biathlon and cross-country skiing has been meteoric, achieving qualification for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games. A little over two months ago, he managed to finish seventh in the Notschrei World Cup. Rivero will be the Spanish Para athlete who more tests will be played, up to six.
The one from Bilbao will compete six tests in the Milano Cortina Paralympic Games 2026: Saturday, March 7 from 10:35 a.m. (For biathlon, seated sprint); Sunday, March 8 from 10:30 a.m. (For biathlon, seated individual); Tuesday, March 10 from 11:00 a.m. (For cross-country skiing, seated sprint); Wednesday, March 11 from 10:10 a.m. (For cross-country skiing, 10km sitting); Friday, February 13 from 10:15 a.m. (For biathlon, sitting pursuit); Sunday, March 15 from 9:15 a.m. (For cross-country skiing, 20km sitting freestyle).
Iraide Rodríguez, the little one of the group
Iraide Rodríguez is the youngest of the Spanish delegation, with only 17 years old will compete in his first Paralympic Games thanks to the last minute nominal invitation. Born in Guadarrama, the Spanish Para athlete suffered a spinal infarction that left her quadriplegic when she was just a baby. Like other young promises of Spanish sports, he is part of the Allianz Winter Sports Promise Team. Also alpine skiing with cycling.
The Madrid native has a promising future and has shown it when she turned 16, at which time the FIS allowed her to compete in international events, where she has already accumulated seven podiums. He will compete in the sitting slalom and giant slalom events.
Alejandra Requesens, the only representative with visual disabilities
Alejandra Requensens, also from Madrid by birth, will participate with her guide, Victoria Ibáñez in alpine skiing, in the AS3 class, being the only Spanish representatives in this type of visual impairment. Both, like Iraide Rodriguez, will be in Milano Cortina thanks to a nominal invitation.
Both have been a couple for two seasons and have already achieved several continental podiums. They will participate in the slalom and super giant slalom events in the visually impaired category.
