There’s another gold medalist in Northern Virginia. On Sunday, the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey team defeated Canada 6-2 to win gold, marking a second gold medal for Haymarket’s Evan Nichols.
The 2026 Paralympic Games in Italy is the second Paralympic competition for Nichols. During this year’s tournament, Team USA went undefeated with the 21-year-old recording one goal and five assists through five games. In his Paralympic debut, the Battlefield High alum played one game, recording three assists.
The win over Canada marked the U.S. sled hockey team’s fifth consecutive gold medal. The win also completed Team USA’s hockey sweep, with all three U.S. hockey teams winning gold — the first nation to sweep hockey tournaments in both the Olympics and Paralympics. And, coincidentally, all of those gold-medal wins were against Canada.
Fredericksburg’s Joe Pleban also finished up his Paralympic debut on Friday. During the games, the 35-year-old competed in both the Men’s Snowboard Cross SB-LL2 and Men’s Banked Slalom SB-112. In snowboard cross, Pleban placed fourth in the small final race against fellow Team USA competitors Keith Gabel and Zach Miller, and China’s Qi Sun. In the banked slalom competition, Pleban finished in 11th after two runs and a fastest time of 59.85 seconds.
March 5, 2026: 2 Northern Virginians Will Compete in the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games
It’s not time to put away that Team USA pride yet. On Friday, March 6, the Paralympic Winter Games kick off in Italy for 10 days of competition.
Out of the 72-member designation representing Team USA, Northern Virginia will be represented by two Paralympic athletes: Evan Nichols and Joe Pleban.
Evan Nichols
Nichols, a sled hockey athlete from Haymarket, is heading to his second Paralympic games. He was born with Arthrogryposis — a condition that affects the joints in his knees and ankles, and diagnosed with Bilateral Perthes at the age of 5. He had to overcome multiple surgeries as a child and relearn how to walk seven times.
When the Battlefield High School alum attended the 2022 games, he was the youngest player at 17 years old. Now 21, Nichols is looking to help Team USA win its fifth gold medal in a row, and sixth overall gold medal.
The sled hockey team starts the preliminary round on Saturday, March 7 against Italy. The game starts at 11:05 a.m. and can be viewed on CNBC. The rest of the preliminary round includes a set of back-to-back games against Germany on Monday, March 9 at 12:05 p.m. and China on Tuesday, March 10 at 8:35 a.m. Both games will be aired on USA Network.
Joe Pleban
Pleban, 35, a para snowboarder from Fredericksburg, is heading to his first Paralympic games. The Christopher Newport University alum will be competing against other athletes classified as SB-LL2. These are athletes that have an impairment in one or both legs, but it impacts balance and control less than SB-LL1 athletes.
Competition for the various para snowboarding events starts on March 7. Medals will be awarded on March 8 and March 14.
The two athletes are looking to add to the success of NoVA’s Olympic athletes. Of the three from the region, Vienna’s Ilia Malinin brought home gold during the Team Figure Skating competition.
Feature image of Evan Nichols by CTK / Alamy Stock Photo
