Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 Preview: Para Alpine and Para Nordic Skiing

At the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, para alpine and cross-country events will be held at the same venues as their Olympic cousins: the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo and the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme. The para biathlon will also be held at the Val di Fiemme venue.



Cortina d’Ampezzo is 257 miles northeast of Milan and 100 miles north of Venice; Val di Fiemme is about a two-hour drive southwest of Cortina d’Ampezzo.



Para alpine skiing was held at the first Paralympic Winter Games in Sweden in 1976, with slalom, giant slalom and combined races in standing categories. Sit-skiing did not become a medal sport until the 1998 Winter Games.

In 1980, the Paralympic Winter Games were held in Geilo, Norway, and Team USA’s Doug Keil and Cindy Castellano won the U.S.’s first gold medals in para alpine (in both slalom and GS). At the 1984 Games, downhill was added to the Paralympic Winter Games program and Paul Dibello won gold for Team USA in the event. Super-G made its debut in 1992 with Roni Sasaki and Sarah Will taking gold in women’s competition and four men standing atop the podium in super-g: Brian Santos, Greg Mannino, Chad Colley and David Kiley.



Since then, Team USA athletes have continued to reap success on the slopes, winning 258 Paralympic Winter Games medals (second only to Austria with 280) in five alpine events (downhill, super-G, combined, GS and slalom) across three categories: visually impaired, sitting and standing.

The U.S. only came home with one medal at the 2022 Beijing Games: Thomas Walsh claimed silver in men’s GS (standing). The last time a U.S. man won gold in a para downhill was Andrew Kurka in 2018. It’s been 24 years since a U.S. man stood atop the Paralympic podium in super-G, 28 years in slalom and GS, and 42 years since an American man won the combined at the Paralympic Winter Games.

The women have had more recent success. At the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Alana Nichols claimed gold in both the downhill and GS and Stephani Victor won gold in the combined. In super-G and slalom, a U.S. women last won gold at the 2006 Games, with Laurie Stephens claiming super-G gold at the Torino Games, while Allison Jones and Victor each took wins in the slalom competition.

Women: The most successful Team USA para alpine skiers include Sarah Will with 12 gold medals and 1 silver (1992-2002), Sarah Billmeier with 7 gold, 5 silver, and 1 bronze (1992-2002), and Nancy Gustafson with 7 golds and 1 silver (1988-1994).

Men: For the men, Greg Mannino leads the Team USA medal count with 6 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze (1988-1998), Chris Waddell with 5 gold, 5 silver, and 2 bronze (1992-2002), Rik Heid with 2 gold, 5 silver, and 3 bronze (1988-1994) and Santos with 6 gold medals (1992-1994).



Andrew Kurka, in his third Paralympic Winter Games, hopes to rekindle his downhill magic from 2018, when he won gold in the sitting category. In the women’s fields, 18-year-old Audrey Crowley won a bronze medal in GS in her first world para alpine skiing championships last season. Kelsey O’Driscoll started the 2026 Paralympic season with a win in the opening world cup para super-G.



Paralympic alpine races start on March 7. All categories are held in each race on the same day. Medals will be awarded on:

March 7 (Men’s and Women’s Downhill)

March 9 (Men’s and Women’s super-G)

March 10 (Men’s and Women’s Combined)

March 12 (Women’s Giant Slalom)

March 13 (Men’s Giant Slalom)

March 14 (Women’s Slalom)

March 15 (Men’s Slalom)



Para Nordic skiing includes both cross-country skiing and biathlon. For Milano Cortina 2026, both events will be held at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

Cross-country skiing: Like para alpine, cross-country skiing was held at the very first Paralympic Winter Games in 1976. Back then, skiers used only the classic kick-and-glide technique, and races were all distance races. The freestyle or skate technique was introduced in competition in 1984 and became used in the Paralympic Winter Games in 1992.

Today, para cross-country skiers compete in the sprint, 10 kilometer, and 20 km races, with technique (classic or freestyle) varying from Games to Games. At Milano Cortina 2026, para cross-country skiing includes five events: a classic sprint, 10 km interval start classic, 20 km interval start freestyle, mixed 4 x 2.5 km rela, and open 4 x 2.5km relay. Each event is divided into three categories: visually impaired, standing and sitting.

Para biathlon: Para biathlon was introduced at the 1988 Paralympic Winter Games, with the visually impaired category added in 1992. Athletes compete in races of varying lengths using only the freestyle or skating technique, and they stop in the shooting range two or four times, depending on race length. In the range, they shoot from the prone position and must hit five targets located 10 meters away. For each miss, they either ski a penalty loop or have a time penalty added to their overall time.



Visually impaired biathletes use acoustic signals in the shooting range. Signal intensity indicates how close they are to the target. Para biathletes do not carry their rifles while skiing. They receive them in the biathlon range.



At Milano Cortina 2026, para biathletes will compete in three events: 7.5 km sprint, 12.5 km individual and the sprint pursuit — a race with a sprint qualifier in the morning, then athletes pursue each other in the afternoon race depending on how far back they finished in the sprint. First across the finish line wins.



Over the past 42 years, U.S. para cross-country skiers and biathletes have won 54 Paralympic medals — 30 of them in the two most recent Paralympic Games. The para biathletes have been particularly successful, claiming 13 medals at the past two Winter Games.

Team USA is the defending Paralympic champion in cross-country skiing’s mixed 4 x 2.5 km relay.



Para Cross-Country Skiing: U.S. para cross-country skiers have won medals at every Paralympic Winter Games but one since the U.S. first sent a team in 1984. But the U.S. was particularly successful in cross-country skiing at the past two Games—thanks mostly to Paralympic legend Oksana Masters, who now has nine Paralympic medals in cross-country skiing in her collection.



At the 2018 PyeongChang Games, the U.S. brought home nine medals, triple the number from the 2014 Games. And in Beijing in 2022, U.S. cross-country skiers claimed eight medals, but only one gold (in the mixed relay).
The 2022 medalists include Masters (who also competes in biathlon), Sydney Peterson, and Jake Adicoff.



Para Biathlon: Of the 54 medals won by Team USA Paralympians in Nordic skiing, 14 are from biathlon, almost all of them at the past two Winter Games. At the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, U.S. para biathletes won seven medals, with Dan Cnossen leading the way with three — including one gold. Masters and Kendall Gretsch combined for three medals on the women’s side. Four years later, at the 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Masters and Gretsch brought home three medals apiece.



With 19 Paralympic medals and counting, Masters is one of the most successful Paralympians in history. She has won nine of her medals in cross-country skiing, five in biathlon and four in para cycling and one in rowing at the Summer Games.



Para Cross-Country Skiing: Five Paralympic medalists return for another Games, including mixed relay winners Masters, Gretsch, Peterson, Cnossen and Adicoff.



Para Biathlon: Almost all of the 2018 and 2022 Paralympic biathlete medalists are back for the 2026 Winter Games, including Masters, Gretsch and Cnossen.



Para cross-country skiing begins on March 7 with the para biathlon sprint races. All Paralympic categories are held in each race on the same day. Medals will be awarded on:

March 7 (Para Biathlon — Men’s and Women’s Sprint)

March 8 (Para Biathlon — Men’s and Women’s Individual)

March 10 (Para XC — Men’s and Women’s Sprint)

March 11 (Para XC — Men’s and Women’s 10 km Classic)

March 13 (Para Biathlon — Sprint Pursuit)

March 14 (Para XC — Mixed and Open Relays)

March 15 (Para XC — Men’s and Women’s 20 km Freestyle)