Canada's Carrier trains at WinSport ahead of Paralympics debut

Although she is Canada’s youngest athlete at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, Florence Carrier has already been dreaming this dream for a long time.

Carrier was born with a foot malformation and was just nine months old when she had her right leg amputated above the ankle.

At 18, she is now a rising star in Para alpine, specializing in slalom and giant slalom for standing competitors. 

“I started skiing when I was three and I remember watching the 2014 Sochi Olympics and being like, ‘Yeah, I want to go there. That’s something I want to do,’ ” Carrier recalled. “So I think it’s always been a goal of mine to end up at the Paralympics.”

She’s there now, one of 50 athletes who is representing Canada in Milano Cortina, Italy, from March 6-15.

One of Carrier’s final stops on the journey to her Paralympic debut was the winter hill at WinSport, where she carved through a pair of final training sessions last week. It reminded her, she said, of the slopes back home in Magog, Que.

“What really drew me to skiing was how it’s different every run, different every day,” said Carrier, who is as enthusiastic about her sport as she is smooth around the slalom gates.  “You have to adapt. It’s kind of like a puzzle that you have to figure out every time you go down.”

While most of her competitors have much more practice on those high-speed, high-pressure puzzles, Carrier has a bright future ahead. 

She was a double gold medallist at the 2023 Canada Winter Games and is now in her first full season on the World Cup circuit.

Mark Newton, the Senior Manager of Para-Alpine Domestic Programs and Pathways for Alpine Canada, believes she has the potential to stand on the podium at the Paralympics — even if it’s not at this edition. 

“The big thing for Flo this year is giving her an opportunity to go and be a part of the Games,” said Newton, who joined Carrier at WinSport for two days of high-volume training. “So that she can have the experience of what it’s like to get a Paralympic start, with the hopes that she can take that experience over the next four years and really be a medal contender for us in 2030.”

Check out our Instagram video: Florence Carrier trains at WinSport

Canada will compete in every sport in Milano Cortina — Para alpine skiing, Para ice hockey, Para Nordic skiing, Para snowboard and wheelchair curling. Canada’s Para hockey team held a six-day training camp at WinSport back in November in preparation for the Paralympics.

The 50 athletes on Team Canada range in age from 18 to 63 and hail from nine different provinces.

Many already have Paralympic keepsakes at home, with 21 returning medallists from 2022 in Beijing.

When you add coaches, staff and support team members, Canada’s delegation at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games totals 163 people.

Plus, of course, countless loved ones and fans.

Carrier’s personal cheering section includes her parents, siblings, grandparents and uncles and aunts. They all know that this has been on her wish-list since an early age.

“I’m so excited to live this. I’m just trying to have fun,” Carrier said as she counted down the final days until this dream-come-true. “Of course, there’s always a bit of excitement and nervousness. It’s something new that I’ve never done. But I think it’s more excitement than nervousness.”

Athletes, as we all know, tend to stick with what works.

If Carrier is pleased with her performance in Italy, perhaps we will see her on the winter hill at WinSport for some of her final prep work in 2030.

In the meantime, we will be rooting her on.