Milano Cortina Paralympics Open with Ukraine on Top and Strong Start for Canada

The opening day of the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics underscored the inclusive spirit of the Games, where athletes compete on equal footing regardless of nationality or circumstance. The first day of competition also marked the return of Russian para-athletes to the Paralympic stage after more than a decade. Within hours of their participation in the opening ceremony, Russian athletes secured their first titles of the Games in alpine skiing.

Ukraine, which has been in military conflict with Russia since 2022, finished the day at the top of the medal table with three gold medals.

A total of 12 medal events were contested on the opening day. The first cross-country skiing races were held, and the Para ice hockey tournament began at the Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, where a packed crowd watched Italy face defending champions the United States.

Canada also made a strong start, winning three medals, including two silver.

With three gold, one silver, and two bronze medals, Ukraine, which finished second in the medal standings at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, led the table after the first official day of competition. All of its medals came in biathlon events. In the men’s visually impaired race, Ukrainian athletes swept the podium, with Oleksandr Kazik winning gold, followed by Iaroslav Reshetynskyi and Anatolii Kovalevskyi. Ukrainian athletes also filled half of the top ten positions in the event.

The day’s competition began with alpine skiing in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Austria’s Veronika Aigner captured gold in the women’s visually impaired downhill, claiming the first title of the Games. Shortly afterward, her brother Johannes Aigner secured gold in the men’s event in the same category.

Italy’s Chiara Mazzel, guided by Nicola Cotti Cottini, earned silver in the women’s race ahead of Slovakia’s Alexandra Rexova. In the men’s visually impaired downhill, Italy’s Giacomo Bertagnolli and guide Andrea Ravelli won bronze behind Austria’s Johannes Aigner and Canada’s Kalle Eriksson.

In Tesero, American athlete Oksana Masters won gold in the women’s sitting biathlon sprint, defending the Paralympic title she captured in Beijing four years ago. Fellow American Kendall Gretsch finished second, while Germany’s Anja Wicker claimed bronze.

The victory marked Masters’ 15th Winter Paralympic medal. She has also won five medals in rowing and paracycling at the Summer Paralympics. Masters and Gretsch have shared the sprint podium at each of the last three editions of the Paralympic Winter Games.

The Para ice hockey tournament also opened at the Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena. The Czech Republic defeated Japan 3-2 in the opening game, while the People’s Republic of China defeated Germany 12-0. Later in the day, the United States defeated host Italy 14-1, and Canada closed the evening session with an 8-0 win over Slovakia.

Canada’s first medal of the Games came in alpine skiing. Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith earned silver in the men’s visually impaired downhill with a time of 1:18.33, finishing 2.25 seconds behind Austria’s Johannes Aigner and guide Nico Haberl.

“My heart is pounding right now, I’m full of adrenaline; I can’t believe it,” said Eriksson. “I wasn’t expecting this from us today, so I’m very proud and really thrilled with how we did out there today.”

“We are always working on that connection on the ski hill; the closer we work, the faster we’ll go,” said Smith of the duo’s teamwork. “We really executed that today; just trying to tighten that gap between us and move down the hill as one.”

Canada’s Kurt Oatway secured bronze in the men’s sitting alpine event with a time of 1:19.42. A gold medalist in the super-G eight years earlier, Oatway missed the Beijing 2022 Games due to injury.

“I might be 42, but I’m not done yet!” said Oatway. “We’ll see if I keep winning stuff, another cycle might show up sooner rather than later.”

In the women’s standing event, six-time Paralympic medalist Mollie Jepsen finished fourth, just ahead of teammate Michaela Gosselin in fifth. Alexis Guimond and Brian Rowland did not finish their respective races.

Canada’s opening ceremony flag bearer Natalie Wilkie won silver in the women’s standing biathlon sprint with a time of 18:46.4, finishing 4.9 seconds behind Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova.

“This is something I’ve been dreaming of leading up to the Paralympics, winning a medal in my first race,” said Wilkie. “Brian [McKeever, head coach] told me in the finish chute, this is a huge improvement from my last start in Beijing, where I think I came 15th or something, or last or second-last, so getting the silver medal today is a huge improvement and I’m really happy with that.”

Elsewhere, Mark Arendz finished fifth in the men’s standing event, while Christina Picton placed 10th in the women’s sitting race. Collin Cameron finished 11th and Derek Zaplotinsky 14th in the men’s sitting category. Paralympic debutants Maddie Mullin and guide Brooke Ailey finished 10th in the women’s visually impaired race.

In snowboard cross qualifying, Tyler Turner posted the fastest time in the men’s SB-LL1 category with a run of 51.72 seconds. The defending Paralympic champion will enter Sunday’s elimination races as the top seed. Chase Nicklin qualified 15th in the same category, while Alex Massie placed eighth and Philippe Nadreau 10th in the men’s SB-LL2. Sandrine Hamel ranked 10th in the women’s SB-LL2 seeding runs.

Canada’s wheelchair curling team opened its campaign with a 9-8 victory over host Italy. Canada led 9-2 midway through the match before Italy mounted a late comeback.

“It’s always nice to get the first W and get it in the first game,” said Jon Thurston, competing in his second Paralympic Winter Games. “It was a fun game; it was an amazing atmosphere out there. The Italian crowd was there, and it was cool to have all the Canadian fans out there, too, cheering us on. Strong first half, we loved that first half, so we’ll take that any day. Italy made a lot of shots in the second half, and so we’ll look at some game tape, see what the coaches say and continue to learn and get better as the week goes on.”

“It felt really good, then it felt a little bit less good, and then a lot of relief!” said Ina Forrest, competing in her fifth consecutive Paralympic Winter Games.

In Para ice hockey, Tyler McGregor recorded a goal and an assist in Canada’s 8-0 victory over Slovakia, marking his 200th appearance for the national team. Teammates Liam Hickey, James Dunn, and Vincent Boily each recorded three points, while Greg Westlake competed in his sixth Paralympic Winter Games.

“The last four years have just been manifested into today. I’ve just been training so hard for this moment, I’m just really trying to appreciate every second of it,” said Paralympic rookie Auren Halbert, who scored in his first Games appearance.

“I was really happy about that [scoring]. It was nice to open up the goals for us and get pucks in the net.”

Russian athletes also returned to the podium. Alpine skier Varvara Voronchikhina secured Russia’s first Paralympic medal since 2014 after winning bronze in the women’s standing downhill.

“For us, it has been a very long time competing without our flag, and I’m extremely happy, as is my whole country and all my teammates,” she said after her win.

Russian athletes expressed confidence that one of their competitors could reach the top of the podium and bring their national anthem back to a major global sporting event for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russian athletes had previously faced restrictions following a state-sponsored doping scandal and the outbreak of the war.

The return has not been without controversy. Some tension was visible at the venue as boos were heard inside the Verona Arena when Russian athletes entered during the parade of athletes. However, the 23-year-old skier said the delegation had been treated well during their stay in Italy.

Not everyone accepted the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags.

Three other Russian athletes also competed on the opening day, including para snowboarders Filipp Shebbo and Dmitrii Fadeev, and alpine skier Aleksei Bugaev, who earned Russia’s second medal with a bronze in alpine skiing, finishing in 1 minute 18.94 seconds.

The 28-year-old Bugaev is already among the most accomplished athletes in his discipline. A three-time Paralympic champion, he won two gold medals at the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics and added another title at the PyeongChang Games. His career record also includes three silver medals and an additional bronze.