Ukraine to compete with record squad at 2026 Paralympic Games - list of participants
Kyiv • UNN
The Ukrainian national team has finalized its application for the 2026 Paralympic Games, securing 25 licenses, which is the best result in history. 35 athletes will compete in four sports, including nine debutants.
The Ukrainian national team has finalized its roster for the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina. This was reported by the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, according to UNN.
The Ukrainian national team has finalized its roster for the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina. In total, the "blue and yellow" won 25 licenses for the 2026 Paralympic Games. Ukraine will be represented by 35 athletes - 25 para-athletes and 10 guide athletes.
It is reported that Ukrainians will compete in four sports: para biathlon, para cross-country skiing, para alpine skiing, and para snowboarding.
The committee also noted that 25 licenses is the best indicator in Ukraine's history at the Paralympic Games level.
Until now, the largest representation the team had was at the 2014 Paralympics, when 23 athletes represented the country in three sports. Ukraine will be represented in alpine skiing for the first time since 2014, and in snowboarding for the first time since 2018. Two debutants will compete for the Paralympic podium: Vladyslav Khilchenko, a blogger and author of the YouTube channel "One Right Hand," in snowboarding, and alpine skier Maksym Helyuta.
In total, Ukraine's team includes nine debutants for the 2026 Paralympic Games. In addition to Helyuta and Khilchenko, there are seven skiers and biathletes: Dmytro Sereda, Hryhoriy Shymko, Romana Lobasheva, Ilona Kazik, Oleksandra Danylenko, Maksym Murashkovskyi, Ihor Kravchuk. In particular, Lobasheva debuted internationally only in 2025 and also competed in athletics.
The most experienced Paralympians in the Ukrainian national team are Oleksandra Kononova, Hryhoriy Vovchynskyi, and Oksana Shyshkova, who competed back in Vancouver 2010.
The "blue and yellow" team for the Winter Paralympics also includes a medalist from the Paris 2024 Summer Games - Pavlo Bal, who won Ukraine's historic medal in the handcycling road race. Bal debuted at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing 2022, where his best result was sixth place in the biathlon middle-distance race (10 km).
The national team's roster for the Paralympics also includes one participant from the 2026 Winter Olympics - guide Dmytro Drahun.
Composition of the Ukrainian national team for the 2026 Winter Paralympics:
- para cross-country skiing and para biathlon (with musculoskeletal disorders) - Hryhoriy Vovchynskyi, Dmytro Sereda, Serhiy Romaniuk, Serafym Drahun, Oleksandr Oleksyk, Pavlo Bal, Vasyl Kravchuk, Taras Rad, Hryhoriy Shymko, Iryna Bui, Liudmyla Liashenko, Oleksandra Kononova, Bohdana Konashuk;
- para cross-country skiing and para biathlon (with visual impairments) - Oleksandr Kazik, Anatoliy Kovalevskyi, Yaroslav Reshetynskyi, Dmytro Suiarko, Maksym Murashkovskyi, Ihor Kravchuk; Romana Liubasheva, Ilona Kazik, Oksana Shyshkova, Oleksandra Danylenko;
- guide athletes: Serhiy Kucheriavyi, Dmytro Drahun, Artem Kazarian, Oleksandr Mukshyn, Oleksandr Nikonovych, Andriy Dotsenko, Vitaliy Trush, Mykyta Stakhurskyi, Daryna Kovaliova, Anastasiia Shabaldina;
- para alpine skiing: Maksym Helyuta;
- para snowboarding: Vladyslav Khilchenko;
Recall that
Ukraine will not boycott the 2026 Paralympics; Ukrainian Paralympians will compete. The decision regarding participation in the opening ceremony will be announced later.