Milano Cortina 2026: Akari Fukunishi pushes new ground for women in Para ice hockey

Japan’s Akari Fukunishi is set to make Para ice hockey history at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, becoming the fourth female player ever to compete at  the Games. 

She will make her Paralympic debut just over six months after taking part in the inaugural Women’s World Championships in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia. At that event, Fukunishi played for Team World, a squad formed by athletes from nine countries that do not yet have their own women’s national teams.

Fukunishi led Team World in scoring with five points in three games. At Milano Cortina 2026, Japan will compete in Group B alongside Canada, Czechia and Slovakia. China, Germany, hosts Italy and the USA are in Group A. The top two teams progress to the semifinals.

A truly historic event - and so much more to come 🩵

Thank you, #DolnyKubin2025.#ParaIceHockey pic.twitter.com/NEMxYutH5R

— Para Ice Hockey (@paraicehockey) October 15, 2025

The trailblazers

To date, only three women have played Para ice hockey in the Winter Paralympics. Norway’s Britt Mjaasund Oeyen became the first when she helped her team win silver at home at Lillehammer 1994, the sport’s Games debut. 

In 2006, Sweden’s Amanda Ahrnbom was prevented from competing at the Torino Games because the sport was then restricted to male athletes. Her case prompted a rule change, and since Vancouver 2010, Para ice hockey has been an open-gender sport.

However, it was not until PyeongChang 2018 that a second woman, Norway’s Lena Schroeder, took part in the Games. Yu Jing became the third female Paralympian in the sport as part of China’s bronze medal campaign at Beijing 2022. 

That same year, World Para Ice Hockey launched the Women’s Development Pathway to increase female participation in the sport. This initiative led to the creation of the Women’s World Challenge, a development tournament whose three editions paved the way for last year’s six-team Women’s World Championships in Dolny Kubin.

These initiatives are also essential steps toward building the competitive depth and global representation needed for the future inclusion of a women’s-only tournament in the Paralympics. The Milano Cortina 2026 medal event programme was confirmed in July 2023, at a time when there were not enough activate female players and national teams for a women’s tournament application to be considered. 

The next Winter Games will take place in the French Alps in 2030.