Milano Cortina 2026: Top moments from Day 7

On Day 7 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, Italy surpassed its best medal haul of 13, at Lillehammer 1994. 

The host nation now sits third in the medal table with 14 - six golds, seven silvers and a bronze.

Homegrown heroes excel in Alpine skiing

Italian sit-skier Rene de Silvestro won the men’s giant slalom, adding gold to his silver from the combined event. He narrowly edged out Dutchman Niels de Langen. Norway’s Jesper Pedersen finished third. 

"It's really emotional in front of the crowd, a home crowd: my people, my friends, my family. I'm very, very, very happy, very excited," De Silvestro said.

In the vision impaired category, crowd favourite Giacomo Bertagnolli narrowly lost to Austrian speed machine Johannes Aigner, while Poland’s Michal Golas scraped onto the podium by a hair’s breadth.

There was also redemption for France's Arthur Bauchet, who claimed gold in the giant slalom men’s standing. The 25-year-old recorded a Did Not Finish in the event at PyeongChang 2018 and took bronze in Beijing four years later, but he finished nearly two seconds clear of downhill and super-G champion Robin Cuche of Switzerland to claim his second gold of Milano Cortina 2026.

“I'm feeling so great. It’s incredible to win the giant slalom,” Bauchet said. “To take gold here with my family, it's really great.”

Para snowboard: dreams and fairytales

Italian celebrations bubbled on in Para snowboard banked slalom SB-UL where Jacopo Luchini’s first Paralympic medal – in his third Games – was a golden one. The veteran bested Chinese youngsters Pengyao Wang and Zihao Jiang, who took silver and bronze.

“This is a dream come true,” Luchini said. “You have a lot of pressure. You want to be good in front of all your friends, your parents, and all the Italian team.”    

Countryman and Olympian Emanuel Perathoner continued his fairytale Paralympic debut. He won his second gold medal, in the banked slalom SB-LL2, edging out Swiss rider Fabrice von Gruenigen and Australia’s Ben Tudhope, who claimed silver and bronze respectively. 

In the SB-LL1, Noah Elliott of the USA topped the podium – an emotional achievement for the PyeongChang 2018 banked slalom gold medallist.

"This is my redemption Games because I'm finally healthy again,” he said. “That's why these medals mean so much to me. I had my femur bone come through my amputated leg, and so I actually competed like that (at Beijing 2022).” 

Elliott also claimed silver in the snowboard cross earlier in the week.  

The women’s banked slalom SB-LL2 witnessed a changing of the guard. Kate Delson, 20, won gold with a best time of 1:02.99, beating veteran Dutch rider Lisa Bunschoten-Vos, who had led the pack during the second runs.  

Reigning champion Brenna Huckaby of the US took bronze. 

“Now I get to share the podium with two of the biggest legends of this sport,” Delson said.    

Ukraine hoard Para biathlon medals

Ukraine had a spectacular day in Para biathlon, taking six medals in the sprint pursuit events, albeit no golds, sealing second place in the sport’s medal table.

Ukrainian silver medallist Taras Rad recovered from missing a shot during his first bout. 

"There was a lot of adrenaline and aggression for shooting,” he said. “I started very quickly; one-two. I missed one, and then I said, 'Stop, Taras, just calm down'. Then I shot the rest and it was successful.”

China confirmed their spot at the top of the Para biathlon medal table, taking another four medals, including two golds, one of them a third gold for Jiayun Cai. He too felt the heat at the shooting range.

"I actually felt a lot of pressure when I was chasing the other athletes, especially at the final shooting area. When I was shooting there, the others had already finished shooting.

"The only way to win it was just by chasing. I could not think about anything else, I just kept following and kept chasing and doing my best.

Sweden’s curlers rediscover winning feeling

Sweden won for the first time in four matches to claim the wheelchair curling mixed team bronze medal at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on Friday. 

In a low-scoring encounter with Republic of Korea, successive missed take-outs by Hui Tae Yang at the bottom of the sixth end allowed Sweden to steal two and extend their lead to 5-2. They closed out the match 7-4.

The bronze helped Sweden ease the pain of Friday morning’s last-gasp defeat to China in their semifinal, when they had been locked at 6-6 going into the final end but lost 7-6.

In the other semifinal, Canada produced a remarkable final-end fightback from 7-5 down to defeat Republic of Korea 8-7. 

“The odds are not good in that scenario but you know what? We're a team that never gives up, we stay with it, we stay in it,” Ideson said.

Old foes to fight for Para ice hockey gold

There will be no new name on the para ice hockey roll of honour, after tournament favourites United States and Canada booked their place in the final at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Friday.

The USA are chasing a fifth consecutive Paralympic title, while Canada are aiming for their first gold since Torino 2006. The neighbours and rivals have faced each other in the final at the two most recent Paralympic Winter Games.

USA earned their place in the final by defeating world championship bronze medallists Czechia 6-1 in Friday's early semifinal. 

“I want this one the most,” three-time gold medallist and all-time Paralympic leading scorer Declan Farmer said of his team's challenge for another gold medal. “It's a new group. I’m older in my career, I’ve put more of my heart into it. It's always about the next one.”

Canada scored twice in the final period on Friday evening to shake off hard-working China 4-2 and earn another shot at dethroning the USA as Paralympic champions.

Where to watch and listen to the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games

Secure your tickets for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games  

Milano Cortina 2026, which takes place from 6-15 March 2026, is set to be the most beautiful Paralympic Winter Games yet. Ticket prices start at EUR 10 for children under 14, with approximately 89 per cent of the tickets available for EUR 35 or less.

For more information, please visit tickets.milanocortina2026.org