Double delight for Aigner siblings in Downhill Paralympic opener

Veronika Aigner (AUT) claimed the first gold of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games as she and guide Lilly Sammer won the Women’s Vision Impaired Downhill.

Aigner teamed up late with Sammer after her usual guide, elder sister Elisabeth, was ruled out of the Games with a cruciate knee ligament injury. But they gelled superbly in Cortina d’Ampezzo with Aigner taking victory to add to her Giant Slalom and Slalom golds from Beijing 2022.

Chiara Mazzel (ITA; guide Nicola Cotti Cottini) was just 0.48 back in second to secure the hosts’ first medal of the Games, with Alexandra Rexova (SVK; guide Sophia Polak) - the first skier to go down the course - taking the bronze.

“On the run, we knew we would be faster than in training,” said Aigner. “We gave our best and the jumps were so big! But in the finish area we had so many feelings. When Chiara was outside our time, we were so happy.”

Sammer said, “Now I have the best feeling ever. I enjoyed it so much. It was crazy. At the start I was very nervous, but I’m so proud of us.”

Johannes Aigner followed his sister in winning gold as he retained his Downhill VI title from Beijing. Guided by Nico Haberl, he was 2.25 seconds quicker than Kalle Ericsson (CAN; guide Sierra Smith). Giacomo Bertagnolli (guide Andrea Ravelli) took bronze for Italy.

“I thought I was very fast,” said Aigner who went first as he clinched his third Paralympic gold. “It was a little bit difficult to know the time, but I thought it was good.”

After bronze in Beijing, Ebba Årsjö (SWE) won the Women’s Standing Downhill to take her tally to three Paralympic golds. The 25-year-old quit Downhill ahead of the 2022/23 season, but made a winning return to the discipline last month in Tignes (FRA).

Årsjö won by 1.71 seconds from Aurélie Richard (FRA) who made some mistakes on the bottom half of the test, with Varvara Voronchikhina (RUS) rounding out the podium ahead of defending champion Mollie Jepsen (CAN).

Despite looking smooth for most of her run, Årsjö said she found the course incredibly tough. “At the finish, I felt such a relief that I don’t have to do this again because it was so hard,” she admitted. “I was so nervous before. I felt like I had to go to the toilet all the time. I was so focused on taking the perfect line because it’s difficult.”

Anna-Lena Forster (GER) secured her fifth Paralympic gold medal in the Women’s Sitting category. The action was delayed when the first skier, Barbara van Bergen (NED), suffered a heavy crash but she was able to ski off the track. Beijing silver medalist Forster was next and, after almost missing a gate at the midway point, was heard squealing with delight as she navigated the iconic Olimpia delle Tofane course.

The 30-year-old crossed the line in 1:31.93 which proved to be just enough as the next athlete, Audrey Pascual Seco (ESP), was outside her time by just five-hundredths as she claimed a first Paralympic medal. Sitong Liu (CHN) was third as she matched her silver from Beijing. Momoka Muraoka, who won gold in Beijing, skipped the race to concentrate on the technical disciplines as she recovers from a shoulder injury.

Forster did not think she was going to win during Pascual’s run. “Twice when she was ahead (on time splits), I was like, that’s her gold medal,” she admitted. “I didn’t realize it as fast as my mental coach who was, ‘Woah, you’re faster!’ And then I was like, ‘This is crazy!’ It was great to see the German fans and hear the cheers.”

At his fourth Games, Robin Cuche (SUI) finally has a Paralympic medal and it is Downhill Standing gold. The nephew of former Alpine skier Didier Cuche was right on the edge during his run, and that saw him finish just over six-tenths quicker than reigning champion Arthur Bauchet (FRA). Russia’s Aleksei Bugaev took bronze.

Cuche had a nervous wait ahead of his first global title being confirmed, and was visibly emotional during the Swiss national anthem. “The run was OK, but I thought I was slow compared to the VI times. It didn’t work as planned. But first time standing on a Paralympic podium, in the middle for gold, it’s quite amazing. I had many medals at the World Championships but never gold. Always close for gold but never gold, but finally.”

Jesper Pedersen (NOR) went one better than Beijing as he took gold in the Downhill Sitting category. This was the only gold that eluded him four years ago, but the Norwegian was superb as he won by over a second from Niels de Langen (NED). Kurt Oatway (CAN) took the bronze with home favourite Renè De Silvestro fourth.

Pedersen’s great rival in recent years, Jeroen Kampschreur (NED), was one of several athletes to end up in the safety netting. There were a number of crashes on the demanding course, with 11 DNFs in the 23-strong Men’s Downhill Sitting field.

“It felt fast but I felt like I had control in some of the trickiest spots so I didn’t feel like I was about to die and that’s a good feeling!" said Pedersen. "But sometimes in Downhill, you need to push really hard so it felt good and I was able to be in front of everything in the jumps. Because if you’re low on the line of the jumps you’re going to struggle a lot, but I’m just really happy with taking this gold.

“Of course, Jeroen was fastest in training and was probably the favourite going into today, but that’s part of the game and he’s going to come back stronger on Monday so I’m just really happy with this one. This is the gold that was missing and Downhill is the coolest event, to be honest. I’ve been dreaming about this for four years.”

The Alpine skiers are back on the Olimpia delle Tofane on Monday for the Super-G.