Bertagnolli, Bugaev and Kampschreur take Slalom spoils in Paralympic finale

Giacomo Bertagnolli delighted the crowd in Cortina with Slalom Vision Impaired gold on the final day of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

With guide Andrea Ravelli, Bertagnolli trailed Michal Golas (POL; guide Kacper Walas) by 0.57 after the first run. With fog making visibility difficult for athletes and spectators alike, the Italian pair were superb on the second run as they clocked a time fully 1.6 seconds quicker than previous leader Kalle Ericsson (CAN; Sierra Smith). 

That put the pressure on Giant Slalom bronze medalist Golas who extended his lead by a tenth at the top of the course. But then he lost speed and ended up 0.27 down at the finish as Bertagnolli clinched his second gold of the Games. Ericsson took bronze ahead of Johannes Aigner (AUT; Nico Haberl) who missed out on the podium for the first time in two Paralympic Games.

"I have no words to explain,” said Bertagnolli. “We finally finished. Five medals in five races is a new record for me. I'm so happy because we worked so hard to come here, to arrive here prepared to do our best, and we did it. It's awesome.

"Today, Johannes made some mistakes. It happens, you know? Out there, I had another very good skier as a competitor in Michal. I'm a little bit sorry for him because he really deserves a gold medal, too, but this is sport. He has a silver right now. I have the gold. We can party together!

"It was a very hard race for everybody, especially because it was so foggy. Nobody could see anything – not because we are visually impaired, but because of the fog.”

Aleksei Bugaev (RUS) made amends for his Combined calamity by regaining his Slalom Standing title 12 years after he first won it at Sochi 2014. The 28-year-old was over one and a half seconds clear of the field after the first run with Federico Pelizzari (ITA) in second.

Double gold medalist Robin Cuche (SUI), sixth after the first run, had an excellent second run to move up the order although his attempted ‘Cuche Flip’ - in honor of his uncle, Alpine Ski hero Didier - did not quite come off. Adam Hall of New Zealand (NZL), lying fourth at midway, followed suit to displace Cuche from the top of the leaderboard.

After Jules Segers (FRA) had finished outside Cuche's time, Pelizzari looked on course for a medal but his left ski inexplicably released approaching the final series of gates. With a lead of well over two seconds over Hall from the first run, Bugaev could afford to ski within himself. There was to be no repeat of his Combined Slalom run when he slid out just over 10 gates from the finish with gold at his mercy, as he completed victory by 2.83 seconds. With silver, Hall clinched New Zealand’s first and only medal of the Games.

"Today, we were more focused on the line,” revealed Bugaev. “because on the Alpine combined standing, I made mistakes so I needed to focus more on the outside ski, the straight position, and have a stable run.

“The first run was stable for me but not so quick. I think I could have gone faster. I had a big gap to second for the second run, so I tried to be as stable and without mistakes and I've done it.”

He now has at least one Paralympic gold on each of his three appearances following two at Sochi 2014, and Combined gold at PyeongChang 2018. Reflecting on these Games, he said, “I'm happy and I know that at least I am capable of doing it. But it was also like a rollercoaster, I am disappointed, I'm happy, I'm disappointed, like this, yeah."

Defending champion Arthur Bauchet (FRA) was seven-tenths up on Bugaev at the first time split on run one but then straddled a gate. He opted to hike back up to take the gate properly but lost around 10 seconds to rule him out of contention. The 25-year-old did set the fastest time on the second run to end up in 11th.

One place behind Bauchet was teammate Jordan Broisin who announced his retirement after the race. The 2023 world silver medalist said he had given everything he had, but that it was more and more difficult to start knowing he could not win. He added that he is heading to a “brighter future”.

Jeroen Kampschreur put down a lightning fast first run on his way to his third gold in Cortina in the Slalom Sitting. The Dutchman led perennial rival Jesper Pedersen (NOR) by just over two seconds at the midway point, and that became a winning margin of 1.39 seconds.

Kampschreur’s all or nothing approach was exemplified by his return of three golds and two DNFs on the Olimpia delle Tofane. Pedersen, who won four golds and a silver at Beijing 2022, finished with Downhill gold plus two silvers and a bronze. 

Japan’s 2014 champion Takeshi Suzuki took bronze to maintain his impressive record of winning a medal at every Games since his debut at Torino 2006. Teammate Taiki Morii, competing at his seventh Winter Paralympics, was fourth for his best finish in Cortina. Friday’s Giant Slalom hero Renè De Silvestro (ITA) was down in 10th while Niels de Langen failed to complete his first run to leave him on three medals for the Games.

"Honestly, beforehand I said that this wasn't quite my slope for slalom," said Kampschreur. "But with the snow conditions we had today, I was able to outclass everyone. That's quite special.

"I was kind of hoping for different conditions compared to the Slalom in the Combined event, and my wish for that came true! I could really benefit from the conditions today, and that led to gold."

After only taking home Combined silver from Beijing 2022, this was a far more satisfying experience all round for the 26-year-old. "This whole event has been my favourite ever, really," he stated. "Italy has always been my favourite country to compete in, and to have the Games here is even better. To be able to show off exactly what I'm capable of and to win three golds is special, something I will remember forever."