Winter Paralympics 2026: Elusive medals, chicken hats and gifts for girlfriends as Para alpine competition starts at Milano Cortina 2026

Gutsy downhill skiing, tears of joy, and vibrant spectators put a splash of colour into the first thrilling day of Para alpine skiing at Milano Cortina 2026 on Saturday (7 March).

The Olympia delle Tofane course provided a fair share of challenges with its jumps and tricky turns, and the Para alpine skiers held nothing back. Some fell attempting their most daring runs, while others crossed the line, clutching their helmets in joy and waving to their families.

As the battles for the first medals of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games continued on the course, down in the stands whole families came to support the athletes, each noticeable by its own pop of colour – neon picnic hats for local René de Silvestro, t-shirts emblazoned with “MOLLIE” for Canada’s Mollie Jepsen, Argentinian football jerseys for Enrique Plantey, and a whole coop of chicken hats for Frances’s Arthur Bauchet.

Also among the spectators was Anna-Lena Forster’s family. The German sit skier was delighted to see them in the stands as she crossed the finish line to win the first speed gold, which had eluded her for more than a decade since her first Paralympic Games at Sochi 2014.

It was a tight race as five-time Paralympic champion Forster crossed the line in the downhill just 0.05 seconds faster than silver medallist and Paralympic debutante Audrey Pascual Seco. People’s Republic of China Liu Sitong repeated her third-place finish from Beijing 2022.

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Winter Paralympics: All results and medallists from Milano Cortina 2026 – Full list

Jesper Pedersen was also delighted to clinch the elusive downhill gold. The Norwegian sit skier won gold medals in every discipline except downhill in Beijing, but was triumphant at last on Italian snow.

It was also the first Paralympic speed medal for Niels de Langen, who took silver on Saturday in the men’s sitting class, 1.10 seconds behind Pedersen. A large group of orange-clad spectators waving “Niels” scarves over their heads erupted in loud cheers as de Langen crossed the finish line, spreading out his arms in joy.

The Dutch sit skier rushed to those spectators shortly after, grabbing hold of the metal bars separating the stands and the athlete area, and scaling up them from his wheelchair to give his girlfriend a long hug.

Canada’s 42-year-old Kurt Oatway took a bronze to return to the podium eight years after winning his only Paralympic medal to that point, a super-G gold at PyeongChang 2018, proving that age is just a number.

Aigners channel Pop Eye as they power up on spinatknödel and sweep gold in VI race

In the vision impaired classes, both the women’s and men’s gold medals went to the Aigner siblings. Veronika Aigner, skiing with replacement guide Lilly Sammer, opened the family’s tally with her first Paralympic speed medal and shortly after, her younger brother Johannes Aigner, and his guide Nico Haberl, added a second gold.

The party-loving siblings had been at Austria House the night before to watch the Opening Ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games with platters full of Tafelspitz, Spinatknödel and Kaiserschmarrn powering them to victories the following day.

Canada’s Kalle Ericsson and his guide Sierra Smith took silver in their Paralympic debut, with Italy’s Giacomo Bertagnolli winning bronze after returning to the downhill for the first time since PyeongChang 2018, now with new guide Andrea Ravelli.

Another Italian duo, Chiara Mazzel and her guide Nicola Cotti Cottini, took silver closely behind Veronika Aigner in the women’s vision impaired race, with Slovakia’s Alexandra Rexova and guide Sophia Polak picking up the bronze.

Robin Cuche makes first medal at fourth Paralympics golden

A gold medal in the men’s standing was also a long-awaited reward for Switzerland’s Robin Cuche.

The Swiss Para alpine skier had not been able to reach the podium since first coming on the scene at Sochi 2014, and was emotional to finally medal at Milano Cortina 2026

Cuche surpassed defending champion Arthur Bauchet for the top prize, while the bronze went to new dad Aleksei Bugaev of Russia.

The gold in the women’s standing came as a surprise to Sweden’s Ebba Årsjö. While she had won bronze in this discipline at Beijing 2022, she had not raced downhill for almost three years.

She only returned to skiing the downhill in the World Cup in February and loved the experience so much that she decided to also race it at Milano Cortina 2026.

The last-minute decision paid off as she powered to first place, 1.71 seconds ahead of overall Crystal Globe winner Aurelie Richard of France and 2022 world downhill silver medallist Varvara Voronchikhina of Russia.

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