End the ban: France backs return of intellectually disabled athletes to Winter Paralympics

On a well-groomed, snow-covered slope in the Montagnes de Lans ski area near the French city of Grenoble, a group of Alpine skiers take aggressive lines through the gates. Their trajectories are precise, the tempo is fast and the technique polished.

Among this competition squad are world champions — some with multiple medals to their names.

Yet none will line up in the starting gates at the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games, where more than 650 athletes will compete in 79 medal events from March 6.

The reason? They have cognitive disabilities and are not eligible to compete.

“The Paralympics is a dream, like for any other high-level competitor,” Mélanie De Bona said after completing her slalom session. “I train and make a gigantic amount of sacrifices for that.”

De Bona, who turns 30 later this month, is a 13-time world champion across multiple disciplines. She suffers from severe dysphasia,