Double-digit defeat for Para ice hockey team in comeback

“I’ll just leave the result as it is,” said Jörg Wedde after the clear defeat. It was expected “that China would give us one or two things. There were a few strange goals – like rebounds or something like that. They happen and you can’t do anything about them.”

Qualification after 20 years as a success

For the 17-member German squad, the first qualification for the games in 20 years is already a success. At the 2025 World Cup in Buffalo (USA), the team secured fifth place with a surprising 5-2 win over Slovakia and thus secured their ticket to Milan 2026.

“We have already achieved our goal by qualifying. We are here and touching the Paralympic ice. Everyone always talks about medals, but you put them in a drawer after the games. What remains in your head are the memories,” Coach Willmann said before the opening game.

While twelve players are now celebrating their Paralympic debut, four players took part in the last Paralympics in Turin in 2006: Wedde – most recently part of the German flag-bearer duo and, at 60, the oldest German participant – as well as Sven Stumpe, Sebastian Disveld and Frank Rennhack.

The youngest player in the team at 18, Jano Bußmann, was not yet born when the German team took fourth place in Italy.