Team USA Selects Flag-Bearers for Paralympics Opening Ceremony

With the 2026 Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games just days away, Team USA has named the official flag bearers for the opening ceremony.

Paralympic alpine skier Laurie Stephens and Paralympic sled hockey player Josh Pauls will hold the American flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Friday, March 6, 2026.

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games will mark Stephens' sixth Paralympics and Pauls' fifth Paralympic Games. Both hold multiple medals alongside other significant career achievements in sport. The pair was selected by fellow Team USA athletes through the Team USA Athletes' Commission, which serves as a representative group for the team's athletes.

“It's a privilege to announce Josh Pauls and Laurie Stephens as Team USA’s Opening Ceremony flagbearers for the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games,” said USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland in an interview with NBC Olympics. “They have earned the respect of their fellow Team USA athletes through their commitment to excellence, dedication and character, and we’re proud to have them represent our Paralympic team to open the Games.”

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Stephens is one of the most decorated Paralympian's in history with seven Paralympic medals to her name. She was named Paralympic Sportswoman of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee in 2006, following her first Paralympic Games in Turin, where she won a gold in sitting downhill and sitting Super-G and a silver in sitting Giant Slalom.

Stephens won another silver medal at the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver in sitting downhill. At the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, Stephens won two more bronze medals in sitting downhill and sitting super-G. Stephens also holds 13 World Cup medals across the sitting downhill, sitting giant slalom, sitting super-G, and sitting combined disciplines.

"I began my Paralympic journey 20 years ago in Torino, and then to carry the flag at my final Paralympics in Cortina is a full-circle honor," said Stephens to NBC Olympics. "It’s one I'm proud to carry forward as I step into coaching the next generation."

Pauls has represented Team USA in four previous Paralympic Games and holds Paralympic gold medals from the 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 Paralympic games, making him the most decorated sled hockey player in the history of the sport.