The Winter Paralympics are almost here. These are the athletes you need to know.

The Milan Cortina Paralympics — the 50th anniversary of the first Winter Paralympic Games — start in 100 days in breathtaking style with an opening ceremony at Verona Arena, a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater.

That will be followed by 79 events in six sports over nine days of medal competition. The U.S., Canada and Ukraine have been the most consistent winners in recent Winter Games, though China won twice as many medals as anybody else when it hosted the last Games in 2022.

In addition to the medal count, the top anticipated storylines include the return of Oksana Masters (the American record-holder with 14 Winter Paralympic medals), yet another USA-Canada hockey rivalry and a new event that will feature a former UConn basketball player who appeared in “The Last Dance.”

Oksana