Milano Cortina 2026: Double gold medallist Pascual Seco going with the flow

Audrey Pascual Seco should not be so surprised she has won two gold medals and a silver at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

“No way,” she said, when asked if she thought she would do so well on her Paralympic debut.

Yet these Games seem perfectly timed for the Para alpine sit-skier from Spain. 

After world championship silvers in slalom in 2023 and 2025, she has dazzled on the FIS World Cup circuit this season with 10 golds, six silvers and a bronze. 

Tarnished silverware

Pascual Seco said her downhill silver on Day 1 left a bittersweet taste, as she knew she could have won. Yet Pascual Seco only took up downhill this season.

Regardless, she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. On Day 3, she won super-G gold.

“Now what I wanted was to go for it," she said afterwards. "I couldn’t have started with a different mentality. I started with the will to win, made mistakes, but they were not big enough, and I got gold.

"It was complicated today with the jumps. I had to memorise directions really well. I did what I had to do, which was to start at full speed. 

“I have to learn as well from the win.”

Seemingly she did, picking up gold number two the very next day – Spain’s first Winter Paralympics gold since Sochi 2014.

"I looked at the screen and I saw first, and I was like, 'What? It doesn't make sense’," she said, laughing.

Risk seeking

Audrey’s mother, Laura Seco, remembers Audrey as a kid who was interested in any activity with a tinge of risk, from biking to ice skating. No matter that she was born without knees, tibias or feet due to a rare congenital condition.

So it was no surprise Audrey tried skiing when she was 11, at La Pinilla resort in Segovia, an hour’s drive from her home city of Madrid.

“Skiing, it's lmy life,” she says now. “I've been doing sports all my life and skiing with my family, skiing with friends. It's all I want to do all my life.” 

Audrey may be named after her British grandmother, but her grandfather used to call her “number one”. Pascual Seco says that, now she is, he will be watching on from heaven.

Amazed but not overwhelmed

Spain’s flagbearer is drinking the new experiences in.

“Wow, the Village is amazing,” Pascual Seco said. “The first day, I was completely in shock. I was meeting a lot of athletes from other countries and other sports.”

But the 21-year-old student, who studies audiovisual communication, seems unlikely to be overwhelmed.

Though disappointed with her silver on Day 1, she stayed relaxed about the rest of her campaign.

“I just want to go fast, trust in me, trust in the process and enjoy it,” she said afterwards when asked about her goals for the rest of the Games.

She elaborated on her mental approach after winning her second gold.

“I wanted to win some medals, but there's a lot of pressure, a lot of people that are talking to you, [saying] 'You have to win, you have to win'. 

"You have to take that apart and just do your race. I'm very happy with the work, with my psychology. It's not only the run, it's more than that. It's also about my mind, how I think and everything.

"We talk with my coach. I just have to ski with the flow. I know how to ski, how to compete. I know what I have to do. I just ski with the flow."

Superwoman but not superhuman

Still, Pascual Seco’s body was not quite keeping up with the flow after racing on three out of four days at Milano Cortina 2026. She admitted she was looking forward to the rest day on 11 March, as she was “a little bit tired”.

“There are lots of (competition) days, lots of emotions, and I need to rest. I need tomorrow to breathe and to assimilate everything,” she said after the slalom on 10 March.

Her schedule meant she could not yet afford to celebrate her success properly.

"You just take your mind out for a few hours and then come back," she said, saying she would spend the rest day sleeping, talking with friends and family, and just doing nothing.

What she will do after that – in the slalom and giant slalom at these Games, and in the rest of her career – you can only imagine. Just look out for that hot-pink sit ski.

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