Winter Paralympics 2026: Ralph Etienne becomes Haiti’s first Winter Paralympian

He achieved this through skating.

He first tried the sport on a trip with friends, but it was only two years ago that he realized this was his way to leave his mark on the world.

“I touched the snow and never looked back,” he said. Etienne wanted to become the Caribbean nation’s first Winter Paralympian.

“At first skating meant freedom to me, then I realized it was an inspiration. This is what the Paralympics are about.

“It is a message of hope for people with disabilities and the rest of the world.”

With US restrictions on Haitian immigration rights making it difficult for him to travel to train, last year – with support from his employer Bank of America – Etienne moved from New York to London to be closer to the mountains of Europe for weekend training.

“Sometimes I leave the office at 2 a.m. because I have work to finish before I take a 6 a.m. flight to get to Switzerland,” he told the Wall Street Journal., external.

And on Friday, after only 80 days on the snow of his life, he fulfilled his dream of racing at the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics.

With the help of a 12-month grant from the International Paralympic Committee’s Sport for Mobility programme, he joined athletes from El Salvador, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Portugal in making their country’s debut at the Games.

His result, a disqualification in his second run in the giant slalom, was secondary to his story.

“Haiti has a skater,” he said. “That’s the most beautiful sentence I’ve heard in a long time.”

“In the first round, I proved that Haiti can skate competitively. Before the race, I had won.

“I have to say there is hope, and I have to tell the Haitian youth that if I can do this today with one leg, they can do anything.

“I went from the rubble of the earthquake to the top of the Dolomites with the best skiers in the world.

“Anything is possible. I must show the Haitian youth that all is not lost.”