Four days from now, in a small town in southern England, the 2026 Paralympic Games will officially begin.

Not with athletes. Not with a stadium. With a flame.

On February 24, the Paralympic Flame will be lit at Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. This is where a British neurologist named Ludwig Guttmann organized the first Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948, using sport as rehabilitation for British soldiers with spinal cord injuries. What started as a small hospital competition became the foundation for the modern Paralympic movement. The IPC has kept this lighting ceremony unchanged as the Games have grown into a global event.

Who Lights the Flame

Two athletes will light the flame at Stoke Mandeville.

Millie Knight is a British para alpine skier who has competed at three Paralympic Games and earned four medals. She is one of the most decorated British Winter Paralympians currently competing.

Andrea Macrì is the captain of the Italian Para Ice Hockey national team. He represents the host country at the ceremony, a nod to the Games that await in Milan and Cortina.

The Route

After the flame is lit in Aylesbury, it travels 2,000 kilometers through Italy before arriving at the Verona Arena on March 6 for the opening ceremony.

501 torchbearers carry it across the route. The relay passes through Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the primary competition venues, along with Venice and Padua, before the final leg into Verona.

The torch is called "Essential," bronze-colored, designed by Studio Carlo Ratti Associati and built from recycled aluminium and bronze by Cavagna Group. The name fits what it's doing: carrying a flame from a hospital lawn in England to an arena in Italy, 2,000 kilometers of history in one object.

What It Connects

The Stoke Mandeville lighting is one of the few Paralympic rituals that has remained unchanged as the Games have expanded. Every edition, Summer and Winter alike, begins here. That consistency is deliberate.

Guttmann's original insight was that sport could restore purpose, discipline, and competitive identity to people who had been told their athletic lives were over. The athletes who will carry the torch through Italy in the next two weeks are the direct continuation of that idea, even if they were never in his hospital and never met him.

For the 2026 Games, there's additional weight. This edition marks the 50th anniversary of the Winter Paralympic Games. The first Winter edition was held in Sweden in 1976. The Milan relay will carry that history from its origin point in England to its current home in Italy.

Why It Matters for Families

The relay is often when the Games stop being a news item and start feeling real.

If you have a child with a disability, think about what they're about to watch: athletes who look like them, carrying a flame through crowds, through cities, across 2,000 kilometers of Italy. Not in a parallel event. Not in a separate ceremony. Lighting the fire that starts the whole thing.

That's not a small signal for a kid who has spent their life being told certain things aren't for them.

How to Follow It

The IPC will post relay updates at the official Milano Cortina 2026 site. The relay runs February 24 through March 6.

The opening ceremony is at the Verona Arena on March 6. Competition runs March 7 through March 15, across six sports and 79 medal events in Milan, Cortina, and Verona.

The flame arrives first. If you can, watch that part.