Wheelchair curling: A day of training with Norway's Mia Larsen Sveberg

Norwegian wheelchair curling sensation Mia Larsen Sveberg balances her time on the ice with a passion for making music.

And sometimes, those two loves combine.

“If I'm sitting alone (on the ice), you can always hear me singing to myself,” she said with a laugh.

Performing concerts from a young age has helped her cope with the nerves and pressure of elite competition.

“I’ve been playing concerts since I was about six years old,” she said.

“I need music in my life... I’ve always played piano and singing and writing my own music.”

Hitting the right notes

Sveberg made her Paralympic debut at Beijing 2022 with only a couple of years of pandemic-interrupted experience under her belt.

Back then, she was one of the youngest on the ice. Nearly four years on, she feels more experienced and confident ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

“Mentally, I’m more prepared,” she said.

Before heading out onto the ice to compete, she always sends text messages to her family and boyfriend to let them know: “Now I am going on the ice.”

The ritual of having that last contact with home helps her focus, she said.

“I know that they are thinking about me and wishing me luck,” she said.

“And the best feeling is... when I go off the ice and know that I got a message from my mum or my boyfriend or someone else in my close family... they watched it and said I did a great game.”

A day in a life of a Paralympian

A typical day for Sveberg includes a hearty breakfast and two hours of ice rink practice, fitted around her music teaching and work with a choir for people with cognitive disabilities.

In addition to her on-ice sessions, she does strength training twice a week to prevent shoulder injuries.

She also maintains a busy schedule of meetings and conferences through her advocacy work for persons with disabilities in Norway.

Her high-performance diet includes plenty of vegetables and protein.

“I eat a little bit of everything, but not too much candy. I’m just trying to eat healthy,” she said.

Sveberg uses a wheelchair due to a hypermobility condition. “Today, my joints are so slippery that even if I’m sitting on a couch, my hip can fall out of place,” she said.

“If I try to walk, my knees bend backward, my hip dislocates, and my ankles twist. So, I don’t have the ability to walk anymore because of my joints.”

At 18, she was also diagnosed with hearing loss and now uses a hearing aid. Her father has a hearing impairment, and she grew up using sign language to communicate with him.

“I can’t hear birds,” she said. “I don’t hear bass or low voices well. It’s really hard for me to understand, it just sounds like mumbling.”

On the curling rink, she has sometimes struggled to hear her teammates.

To address this, the team’s skip now wears a microphone that transmits instructions directly to her hearing aids.

Making Norway proud at Milano Cortina 2026

Sveberg is determined to make Norway proud at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, taking place from 6–15 March. Wheelchair curling, which will be staged at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium, is one of six sports on the programme, alongside Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, and Para snowboard.

Norway finished seventh at Beijing 2022, and Sveberg is ready to help lead the team to a higher finish. She also hopes to inspire more young people to take up the sport, which is currently dominated by athletes in their 40s to 60s.

“Wheelchair curling is a sport that’s hard to recruit for, but at the same time, it’s something almost anyone who uses a wheelchair can do,” she said.

“I’m really looking forward to the day when I’m the oldest one out there, not one of the youngest.”

Secure your tickets for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games  

Milano Cortina 2026, which takes place from 6-15 March 2026, is set to be the most beautiful Paralympic Winter Games yet. Ticket prices start at EUR 10 for children under 14, with approximately 89 per cent of the tickets available for EUR 35 or less.

For more information, please visit tickets.milanocortina2026.org