In sled hockey, coed in name only, women are building their own Paralympic pipeline

Swedish sled hockey player Amanda Ahrnbom arrived at the 2006 Torino Paralympics aiming to represent her country. Instead, she was ruled ineligible by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) during team processing after the organization learned she was a woman.

“I don’t think it is right and I am disappointed,” Ahrnbom said in 2006.

Ahrnbom was allowed to remain in the village and compete in a pre-Paralympic game between the U.S. and Sweden – which was ironically held on International Women’s Day. As for the actual Paralympic sled hockey tournament, she was relegated to the bench, serving as the de-facto cheerleader.

“It’s really very unfortunate for Amanda. There was a misunderstanding on the part of both parties,” then IPC spokeswoman Miriam Wilkens said in 2006.

When sled hockey (also known as sledge hockey or para ice hockey) debuted at the 1994 Lillehammer Paralympics, it was a mixed gender sport. One woman – Norway’s Britt Mjaasund Oyen – competed in the inaugural tournament. At some point in the late 1990s or early 2000s (the exact year is unclear), the sport switched to being open only to men – thus leading to Ahrnbom’s exclusion when she arrived in Italy in 2006.

The incident in Torino sparked sled hockey being switched back to mixed gender status ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics. But it wasn’t until 2018 that a second woman – Norway’s Lena Schroeder – broke through to compete at the Paralympics.

In Beijing, a third woman – China’s Yu Jing – made her Paralympic debut. She didn’t play in either of her team’s first two games, or the 11-0 semifinal loss to the U.S., but she did get a few minutes of ice time in China’s 6-0 win over Italy on Tuesday, which – coincidentally or not – was on International