According to CBC Sports on Thursday, Ottawa, Ontario, will host the 2026 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships. This will be the fourth time in the history of the championships that Canada has hosted the event, but the first time of the four that men and women will be competing at the World Championships at the same time. The event will go on from August 26 to September 5, 2026, and will have 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams competing.
In 1983, Halifax, Nova Scotia hosted the World Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Championships, which was won by the United States. In 1994, Edmonton, Alberta hosted the World Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Championships, which was once again won by the Americans. Then in 2014, Toronto, Ontario hosted the World Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Championships, which was won by Canada. The Canadians defeated Germany in a tight contest in the final, 54-50.
This will be the seventh Wheelchair Basketball Championship where the host city has hosted men and women at the same time. The other six times were in Sydney, Australia in 1998; Kitakyushu, Japan, in 2002; Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2006; Birmingham, Great Britain in 2010; Hamburg, Germany in 2018; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2022.
The most successful World Wheelchair Basketball Championships for Canada were in the Netherlands in 2006. At these championships, Canada won gold in the men’s and women’s competitions. In the World Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Championships, Canada defeated the United States 59-41 for its only gold medal in the history of the tournament. In the World Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Championships, Canada defeated the United States 58-50 in the gold medal game.
In addition to the gold medals in Amsterdam in 2006 and Toronto in 2014, Canadian women won the gold medal at the 1994 World Championship in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain (45-34 over the United States), at the 1998 World Championship in Sydney (54-38 over the United States), and at the 2002 World Championship (49-38 over the United States). Canadian women have also won two bronze medals (1990 and 2010). Canadian men have also won one silver medal (1986), and four bronze medals (1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002).
