Phil Smith announced as Head of Delegation for the Milan Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games

ParalympicsGB has today announced the Head of Delegation for Team GB for the Milan Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

Phil Smith, who took over at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics in March last year, will lead the team again in Italy in less than three years.

Currently Head of Sport at Paralympics GB, responsible for developing and implementing the Games Services Strategy for each Summer and Winter Games, Smith has attended seven Paralympics throughout his career, and was Deputy Head of Mission for the team at PyeongChang 2018 as well. He represented the postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Games before taking on the leadership role for the Beijing 2022 Olympics. He will also be Deputy Chief of Mission for Team GB at Paris 2024.

Paralympics GB won six medals in China, including the first ever men’s snowboard gold at a Paralympic or Olympic Games thanks to visually impaired skier Neil Simpson and his guide and brother Andrew. The pair have embarked on a string of outstanding performances as the British Paralympics become more competitive in more sports than ever before.

Smith’s leadership in the lead up to and during Beijing 2022, through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fallout from the Russian conflict with Ukraine that began just days before the start of the competition, was recognized when he was awarded UK Sport’s PLx Spirit Award for high performance last year.