She hopes that paraskiing will be part of the Falun World Cup

The Paralympics will open in Verona on Friday, March 6th. When it’s time for the Paralympics, the Olympics have already been over for about two weeks.

19-year-old cross-country skier Ellen Westerlund is one of those included in the Swedish squad. She thinks it’s good that the Paralympics are their own event.

– I think it’s good, especially in the context of the Paralympics. Because then we are the focus of the Paralympics, so to speak, and it’s a lot of fun that so much attention is paid to the topic.

But there are also other contexts in which she would like to integrate her sport more into competitions for cross-country skiers without disabilities. The 2025 World Para-skiing World Championship sprint was decided at the same time and in the same place as the team sprint at the World Skiing World Championships in Trondheim.

Ellen Westerlund drove their heats between the prologue and the final of the sprint relay.

– The experience was actually absolutely crazy. I didn’t think there would be such an arrangement and such mass pressure. When I got there I was completely amazed at how big it was.

She surprised herself with her best sprint ever, finishing fifth.

– It felt really crazy. It was a lot of fun getting there, she says.

Considering the experience in Trondheim Westerlund hopes that there will be a similar regulation at the 2027 World Ski Championships in Falun.

– I really believe that for inclusion in society it is important to have it and to spread it so that it is noticed. Then there will be more interest in para sports overall, says Westerlund.

Immediately after the 2025 World Cup, discussion arose about including paraskiing at the 2027 World Cup. Then Falun-VM’s then CEO Jonas Peterson said the following to SVT:

– First of all, it is the Fis (International Ski Federation) that sets the schedule and determines which branches we include. So we have to face this question. And Fis said that they wanted to see how it developed in Trondheim, how they put it together and what the reactions of everyone involved were.

There has been no announcement yet. Ellen Westerlund said she heard work was underway, but not that anything was finished.

Regardless of how the 2027 World Cup ends Westerlund is now expecting its Paralympic debut at the beginning of March.

– Above all, it will be great fun – and very cool and powerful. Representing Sweden at the Paralympics feels completely crazy when you think about it, says the 19-year-old, who has a disability that makes her weaker on her right side and affects her balance.

Westerlund finished third overall in the World Cup in the 2025-2026 season, and at the Games in Italy she is focused primarily on a performance she is happy with.

– Make a good run, feel how the ski can react and lay it down well. There is a lot to do, she says and continues:

– I would be very happy if I made it into the top ten.

Read more:

The Swedish Embassy: Do not boycott the opening of the Paralympics