How do visually impaired athletes compete at the Winter Paralympics?

Three of the six sports at the 2026 Winter Paralympics feature visual-impairment categorisations, including Para-Alpine skiing, Para-cross-country skiing and Para-biathlon.

Those sports are split into standing, sitting and visually impaired categories.

Para-Alpine skiing is split into five disciplines - downhill, slalom, giant slalom, super-G, Alpine combined and team events - with visually impaired athletes using a sighted guide to help them navigate the slopes.

Para-biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, and is adapted for visually impaired athletes with the use of an electronic gun rather than a scoped rifle.

Para-cross-country skiing, meanwhile, involves racing over undulating terrain along a series of prepared tracks.

Visually impaired athletes also compete with a guide in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

Skiers are directed through the course by their guide, who gives verbal signals to indicate the direction the athlete should go.

The guide talks to their partner using a Bluetooth microphone and headphone communication system built into their helmet.

They are responsible for communicating the direction of travel, changes in terrain and snow conditions, and providing updates on the rhythm of the course.

The athlete and guide must remain less than three gates apart in slalom and less than two apart for giant slalom, super-G and downhill.

Spectators are also asked to be quiet during races so athletes can hear their guides.

In Para-biathlon, athletes race different distances around the looped course, and between laps stop and pick up their rifles at the shooting range.

They must hit five targets, and for each missed shot, competitors either get a time penalty or must ski a penalty loop, depending on the event.

Visually impaired athletes use an electronic rifle guided by acoustic signals.

When their gun is aimed at the target, the equipment emits a high-pitched tone through their headphones. The higher the sound of the tone, the more precisely the athlete is aiming at the centre of the target.

Athletes go through a formal process to determine whether or not their impairment makes them eligible to compete at the Games. Once they are deemed to meet the minimum impairment criteria (MIC), athletes are assigned a classification to ensure they compete against opponents of similar or equal impairment.

The International Paralympic Committee classifies an athlete as visually impaired if they have reduced or no vision caused by damage to the eye structure, optical nerves or optical pathways, or visual cortex of the brain.

At the Winter Paralympics, athletes with varying degrees of visual impairment compete in the same classification.

To compensate, the disciplines use a system called factored time, which means the clock speed changes depending on their sub-categorisation. When British skier Menna Fitzpatrick competed in the super-G in 2022, for example, she had a factored time of 87.24%, meaning the clock moved slightly slower than a standard second.

Yes, guides do also receive a medal if their athlete earns a spot on the podium.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.