Okanagan wheelchair curler credits coach as Paralympics beckon
Published 3:37 pm Saturday, February 28, 2026
Spallumcheen’s Ina Forrest is once again ready for the world stage.
The veteran wheelchair curler is one of 50 Canadian athletes heading to Milano Cortina, Italy, to compete at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, which will run March 6 to 15.
Forrest is no stranger to international competition. She has competed in 14 wheelchair curling world championships starting in 2007, and was on the Paralympic gold medal winning team in 2010 and 2014. She added bronze medals at Paralympic Games in 2018 and 2022.
Despite all of her experience, whenever she dons her Paralympic jacket, Forrest is transported back to her first time competing for her country.
“Every time you get a new jacket it takes you right back to that first time you got your first World’s jacket, and I don’t think that ever gets old,” Forrest said in a video shared Friday by the Canadian Paralympic Team.
“It’s probably every athlete’s dream to be able to represent their country. It’s a fantastic feeling every time it happens.”
Now, she’s set to take on her fifth Paralympic Winter Games.
Forrest was quick to tout her coach, Sharon Morrison, for helping her to get to these Paralympics, and to the level of success she’s enjoyed for more than two decades.
“When wheelchair curling started, (Morrison) was part of Curl BC trying to advance wheelchair curling. So she has been an advocate of wheelchair curling from the very start of it in B.C.” Forrest said.
“She’s been my coach for, gosh, what is it now? Twenty-one years. She keeps up on what’s happening, she coaches us if we play provincially, she coaches us when we play nationally. She was a high performance curler in her time as well, so she has all the skills.”
Forrest said she couldn’t imagine training without someone as dedicated as Morrison at her side.
“I feel very, very fortunate that I’ve had that my whole career.”
The wheelchair curling qualifications begin before the official start of the Games, on March 4.
