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China surged to the top of the medal standings at the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics on Sunday, increasing its tally to 16 medals, including eight gold. Canada also celebrated a milestone moment as Natalie Wilkie captured the country’s first gold medal of the Games.
Wilkie delivered a standout performance in the women’s 12.5 km individual standing para biathlon race. Ahead of the competition, she applied gold glitter to her cheekbones, a gesture that appeared to bring luck as she secured Canada’s first gold medal of the Games and her first Paralympic victory in Para biathlon.
“Now that I know gold gets gold, I might have to keep wearing it for the rest of the week,” Wilkie said. She is scheduled to compete in several more events during the Games. A day earlier, she had worn silver glitter makeup and went on to win a silver medal in the paratriathlon sprint.
Chinese para-athletes dominated multiple snowboarding categories. Wu Zhonghua, Lijia Ji, Yue Weng, and Hesong Deng each contributed a gold medal to China’s overall tally in the sport.
China also secured gold in the para biathlon individual sitting event through Zhu Lim.
Italy celebrated its first gold medal of the Games when Emanuel Perathoner won the men’s snowboard cross SB-LL2 event. Perathoner, who had previously represented Italy twice at the Olympics, transitioned to the Paralympic movement after suffering a major injury and undergoing knee replacement surgery.
Competing in front of a home crowd, he finished ahead of Australia’s Ben Tudhope and the Republic of Korea’s Jehyuk Lee.
“It’s so close to my hometown, so doing it in front of my family was the best part,” Perathoner said.
In para biathlon, Korea’s Yunji Kim captured gold in the women’s sitting 12.5 km race on International Women’s Day. The achievement is particularly notable as Kim becomes the first female athlete from Korea to win an individual medal at the Winter Paralympics.
The 19-year-old athlete, competing in her first Paralympics, finished ahead of Germany’s Anja Wicker, who claimed silver, and Team USA’s Kendall Gretsch, who secured bronze.
“I can’t believe that I got the gold medal…I feel like I am dreaming right now,” Kim said. “I’m just happy to be competing with all the many top-level worldwide stars,” she told media after the event.
Seventeen-year-old Czech para biathlete Simona Bubenickova won silver in the women’s 12.5 km individual visually impaired category. China’s Yue Wang took gold, while Germany’s Johanna Recktenwald claimed bronze.
In mixed wheelchair curling, Canada recorded a dramatic 5-4 victory over Great Britain in a tightly contested round-robin match. Canada mounted a late comeback, scoring three points in the final end to secure the win.
“They came out swinging today, had a really good start against us, and kept the pressure on us the whole game, right down to the eighth (and final) end,” Canadian wheelchair curler Mark Ideson said.
Canada’s mixed wheelchair curling team has maintained a strong record at the Winter Paralympics, winning a medal at every Games since the sport was introduced in 2006.
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