China topped the Paralympic medal table at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics with 44 medals – 15 gold, 13 silver and 16 bronze – as the Games closed on Sunday, according to multiple news media reports.
The closing ceremony took place at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, where Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), officially declared the Games closed after 12 days of competition.
China finished ahead of the United States, which secured 13 gold, five silver and six bronze medals, while Russia placed third. Host nation Italy finished fourth.
The result marked China’s best performance at an overseas Winter Paralympics. The country’s strongest overall remains the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, where it won 18 gold medals and 61 total medals on home soil.
China’s rise in winter para sports has been rapid. At the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympics, the country won just one gold medal before surging to the top of the standings in subsequent Games. At Milan-Cortina, Chinese athletes won medals across all six sports they competed in, highlighting the growing depth of the nation’s winter para sports programme.
Para biathlete and cross-country skier Cai Jiayun emerged as one of China’s standout performers, winning three gold medals in the standing class. His most dramatic victory came in the men’s sprint pursuit, where he overtook Ukraine’s Grygorii Vovchynskyi in the final sprint to win by just 0.2 seconds.
[See more: China beats North Korea 2-1 to win Group B in Asian Cup women’s soccer]
China’s para biathlon team finished the Games with eight gold medals, making it the country’s most successful discipline.
On the ice, Wang Meng and Yang Jinqiao secured a historic victory in wheelchair curling mixed doubles, a new event introduced at the Milan-Cortina Games, giving China its first Paralympic gold in the discipline. Chinese para alpine skier Liu Sitong also impressed, collecting four bronze medals across multiple events.
More than 600 athletes from 55 delegations competed in 79 events across six sports at the Games, held across venues in Milan, Cortina and Val di Fiemme. A record 27 National Paralympic Committees won medals, highlighting the expanding global reach of the Winter Paralympics.
In his closing remarks, Parsons praised the athletes for their achievements at the Games. “Every race and every match told a story – a story of resilience and possibility,” he said.
During the ceremony, the Paralympic flag was handed over to the hosts of the French Alps 2030 Winter Paralympics, where athletes will meet again in four years.
