The broadcast will cut between three Italian cities across the ten days of the 2026 Winter Paralympics. Verona, Cortina d'Ampezzo, and Milan each host different sports, and when you know which city is which before the Games begin, the schedule stops being a logistics puzzle and becomes something much more interesting: a competition map you can navigate from the first session.

Verona: Where It All Begins

The opening ceremony takes place on March 6 at the Arena di Verona, a Roman amphitheater built in the first century AD that has hosted large-scale events continuously for nearly two thousand years. Summer opera seasons have run there since 1913. The Paralympic opening ceremony, titled "Life in Motion," is the newest production in a venue that has seen emperors and gladiators and Verdi. Peacock carries it live at 2 PM ET, with a pre-show from 1:30 PM.

One thing the schedule doesn't make obvious: wheelchair curling in Cortina starts March 4, two days before the ceremony in Verona. Athletes are already competing for medals in the Dolomites by the time the torchbearers arrive at the arena.

Cortina d'Ampezzo: The Hub of the Games

Cortina d'Ampezzo sits in the Dolomites, a jagged-peak mountain town about three hours north of Venice that hosted alpine competition at the 1956 Winter Olympics and never really stopped. Four of the six Paralympic sports run here, which means Cortina is where the broadcast takes you most often, where most of the competition week is structured, and where the deepest concentration of athletic storytelling happens. If you know one city before March 7, know Cortina.

Para alpine skiing runs at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre starting March 7. Thirty medal events spread across downhill, super-G, super combined, giant slalom, and slalom over the first competition week. Andrew Kurka, a PyeongChang 2018 gold medalist who now runs an accessible bed and breakfast in Alaska between Games, returns for his fourth Paralympics. Laurie Stephens is competing at her fifth. Both are carrying real medal cases into Tofane.

Para snowboard runs at the Cortina Para Snowboard Park from March 7 through 14. Two disciplines on the same Dolomite course: banked slalom and snowboard cross, run on separate competition days. Brenna Huckaby is chasing her fourth Paralympic gold in banked slalom. Noah Elliott finished Beijing 2022 with a femur fracture, rebuilt his career through the 2024-25 season to earn Crystal Globes, and is calling Cortina his redemption Games. If you are looking for two athletes to lock onto before the snowboard events begin, those are your two.

Para biathlon runs at the Biathlon Arena Cortina d'Ampezzo from March 7 through 12. Cross-country skiing combined with rifle shooting, competitors leaving the groomed course to reach a range 50 meters from steel targets, shooting prone and standing, taking a penalty loop for each miss, and skiing back out, with the Dolomite peaks behind every race. Kendall Gretsch won three golds at the 2025 World Championships and is the defending Paralympic champion. Her shooting stages give you the clearest picture of what composure at aerobic intensity looks like.

Wheelchair curling opens competition at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on March 4, two days before the opening ceremony, and runs through March 14. Mixed doubles makes its Paralympic debut here, with Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer entering as the first U.S. pair in Paralympic history to compete in the event. The curling stadium also hosts the closing ceremony on March 15.

Val di Fiemme: The Nordic Finale

Para cross-country skiing runs at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, about an hour east of Cortina, from March 10 through 15. Twenty medal events run across five formats: sprints, 10km classic, 20km skate, 7.5km short distance, and relays, with the Nordic program filling the final six days of the competition calendar.

Oksana Masters returns to competition here after sitting out the previous season with a leg infection. Gretsch, after competing in biathlon at Cortina from March 7 through 12, moves east to Val di Fiemme for the cross-country schedule, making her the most active athlete across the full Nordic program. Watching someone carry that level of fitness from one venue to the next within a single competition week is one of the things that makes the Nordic schedule particularly rewarding to follow.

Milan: Team USA's Five-Gold Chase

Para ice hockey runs in Milan at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Eight nations compete in the group stage from March 7 through 11. Semifinals are March 13. The gold medal game is March 14.

Team USA has won every Paralympic gold medal in sled hockey since 2002, a streak of four consecutive Games. Canada, the only other country to have ever won this event, arrives with one of its most veteran rosters in years and has been building toward a return to the top of this bracket since Turin 2006. Every game from the opening group stage is part of a bracket that tightens into the gold medal game on March 14. All sessions stream on Peacock.

Finding the Full Schedule

The complete competition schedule with session times is at Olympics.com, organized by sport and date. Peacock carries all six sports across the full ten-day window, including the wheelchair curling that opens competition on March 4.

Start with Cortina on March 7. Four sports run simultaneously on the opening competition day. Pick one athlete, find them on the schedule, and the rest of the map builds from there.