Speaking during the Extraordinary IOC Session in Monte Carlo earlier this month, IPC President Sir Philip Craven also spoke positively about long-term prospects, reiterating that the sports will not feature in 2018, but in 2022 "they could be a possibility".

"We're always keen to work with international federations who are keen about winter sport," he told insidethegames, before explaining how he had met with officials in October at the European Committee for Fair Play Congress in Latvia.

"We're definitely in close communication with them, and bobsleigh and skeleton could be a future Paralympic sport."

British ex-serviceman Matt Richardson won the inaugural Para-skeleton World Cup event in Park City last month ©HelpforHeroes



Pengilly, a British colleague of Sir Philip on the IOC who has been an Athletes' Commission member since 2010, also identified 2022 as the target, with the Paralympics set to take place then in either Almaty or Beijing.

The biggest challenge ahead is boosting the number of countries participating, he said, and ensuring they all compete regularly on a growing international circuit.

"The first time we were on the ice for a first international federation first training week was 2012," he told insidethegames.

"To go from nothing in 2012 to the decision made last year by the IPC to be in place to get acceptance onto the IPC programme was a challenge for anybody, and we weren't in a place to do that.

"But I think by the time we get to Pyeongchang, we'll have a product the IPC would be proud of and would want to have, and that would give the 2022 organisers enough time to prepare beforehand, to sort the budgets and logistics.

"One of the challenges we face is that although a lot of nations and the IPC are interested, the IPC say you have to have a certain number of nations, but the nations say you have to be on the programme before they will invest.

"So it's a chicken and egg situation, which we're not really struggling with but need to be aware of.

"We need to make sure we have enough people involved so the IPC are happy, and then, once we are on the programme, I'm very confident that a lot of nations will jump on."

Para snowboard events made their Paralympic bow in Sochi, but no new disciplines are planned for Pyeongchang 2018 ©Getty Images

Pengilly, a silver medal winner at the 2009 World Championships, revealed that around 10 to 15 nations had participated in the various training weeks put on by the FIBT, and achieving that number at competitions is crucial, after sliders from only Britain, Canada and the United States participated at the Park City World Cup.

But he also spoke keenly about discussion that took place at September's IPC Membership Gathering in Berlin, and revealed how an Athlete Focus Group had also been set up to create and "on the ground" perspective of developments. 

"The first World Cup was won by Matt Richardson, a former British soldier who hit a landmine while in Afghanistan," he added.

"It's great that he and other athletes now have an opportunity to become part of the Paralympic programme."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
November 2014: First ever Para-skeleton World Cup won by British ex-serviceman
February 2014: IPC puts brakes on sliding sports inclusion in Pyeongchang 2018
February 2014: FIBT begin drive for Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympics
January 2012: Campaign launched to get sliding sports into Paralympics for Pyeongchang 2018