MILAN, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and leading female para ice hockey players on Sunday expressed hope that the sport will be included in the 2030 Winter Paralympics.
"If you ask me what I would dream for, it's 2030 for sure. I think we can make it work," said Michelle Laflamme, senior manager of World Para Ice Hockey, at a press conference for International Women's Day during the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympics.
Laflamme said the journey to make women's para ice hockey a Winter Paralympic event began as early as 2022. "We are working day-to-day, trying to advance women in sport," she said, adding that women around the world are organizing themselves in an effort to reach the Winter Paralympics.
Their efforts have significantly increased female representation in the sport, which has grown from 1 percent to over 20 percent of the athlete population. The growth made it possible to organize the first Women's Para Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia in 2025.
However, according to the IPC, the sport must stage at least two editions of the world championship and have eight teams from three continents to meet the criteria for Paralympic inclusion.
It still needs one more world championship and three additional teams ahead of the 2027 application deadline. Laflamme said countries including India, Kazakhstan, Mexico and China are preparing related programs.
"We're determined to have another championship in 2026. Still, as of today, we don't have a secured host for the event," Laflamme said.
To encourage more female players to learn and participate in the sport, para ice hockey at the Winter Paralympics has allowed teams to expand their rosters beyond 15 players to include additional female athletes.
Before the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympics, only three female players had participated in para ice hockey at the Paralympics: the Norwegian pair of Brit Mjaasund Oeyen in 1994 and Lena Schroeder in 2018, and Yu Jing of China at Beijing 2022.
Akari Fukunishi, a player on Japan's para ice hockey team competing at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympics, shared her experiences on the ice. "It is exciting, but at the same time, it is quite a pity that for the moment, there are so few female players in the world."
Erica McKee, a representative of the World Para Ice Hockey Athletes' Committee who led the development of U.S. women's para ice hockey, became emotional when recalling her experience at last year's world championship.
"It's just so fun to play against all these amazing female athletes. I've always grown up playing on all men's teams. And when I was able to finally be around awesome female athletes, it was even better. All of us were going for the same goal. We want to be in the Paralympics," she said.
John Petersson, vice president of the IPC, shared the optimism surrounding the development of women's para ice hockey but said the sport's inclusion in the 2030 program cannot yet be assured. "I really hope that they will succeed absolutely," he noted.
McKee told Xinhua that it is crucial to encourage more young female players around the world to take up the sport.
"We know the only way to get to the Paralympics is to help everybody else," she said. ■
