Para Ice Hockey at the Winter Paralympic Games
Para ice hockey, previously known as ice sledge hockey, is ice hockey for people with physical disabilities of the lower body. It one of the most popular sports of the Paralympic Games.
The sport mainly follows the rules of regular ice hockey, with mainly adjustments based on the equipment being used. Players sit on double-blade sledges, specially designed to allow the puck to pass beneath. Also, players use two sticks, the spike-end for pushing themselves along and the blade-end for shooting.
Ice sledge hockey match Two Swedish national teams played an exhibition match for Para ice hockey at the first Paralympic Winter Games at Örnsköldsvik 1976, though the sport did not make it's official debut on the Paralympic program until the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Paralympics.
At the 1994 Winter Paralympics, para ice hockey was a mixed event, though only one women competed, Britt Mjaasund Øyen as part of Norway's team. For the following Games until 2010 it was a men's only tournament. The tournament changed from a men's only to a mixed tournament for the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver, allowing the teams to include female players. However, it was not until PyeongChang 2018 that fellow Norwegian Lena Schrøder became the second female to compete in the sport at the Winter Paralympics.
Related Pages
- See also Ice Sledge Racing at the Paralympics — a discontinued sport
- Complete List of sports at the Winter Paralympics
- Ice Hockey at the Winter Olympics
- List of Sports for Athletes with Disabilities
- More about the sport of Ice Hockey
- Complete list of sports
- Main Winter Paralympics page
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