Milano Cortina 2026: Unstoppable Veronika Aigner wins fourth gold of the Games

Austrian Para alpine skier Veronika Aigner finished her Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in style on Day 8 (14 March) by winning the women’s slalom vision impaired event at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre.

Despite topping the podium, Aigner said she would no longer compete in the slalom event because of its physical demands.  

“It was my last slalom race ever," said Aigner. "I feel very crazy, a little bit sad, but it is what it is. That pain in the knee is too big to try more slalom."

The unstoppable Austrian leaves her second Paralympics with five medals from five events. She claimed four golds and a silver, adding to her collection of two gold medals she won at Beijing 2022.

“All the runs were very crazy, I like all the runs,” she said of her five events at Milano Cortina 2026. “Every run has a different character. The downhill was crazy, the most emotional.”

Medal No. 5 

Competing with guide Erin Digruber, Aigner recorded 1 minute, 22.74 second, 4.04 seconds ahead of silver medallist Elina Stary. Slovakia’s Alexandra Rexova wrapped up the podium for her third bronze in Italy. 

With her fifth medal on the penultimate day of the Paralympics, Aigner is now the most decorated athlete of the Games. With one more event remaining, her brother Johannes has earned three golds and a bronze in men’s vision impaired category.

“Hansi (Johannes) is a very good skier. He will make tomorrow also the best, and I hope for him that he gets a medal,” Aigner said. 

Aigner and Johannes are aiming to win 10 medals from 10 events at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. At Beijing 2022, the Aigner siblings - Veronika, Barbara, Elisabeth and Johannes - won a total of nine medals, including four golds.

“I don't know what the secret is because our parents cannot ski. They can, but not good. They're only (staying) in the house on the slope, not more,” Aigner commented on their family’s success.

The best for last

Varvara Voronchikhina of Russia also had a successful end to her Paralympic campaign, winning the women’s slalom standing event. Wenjing Zhu of China took silver, while Canada’s Michaela Gosselin earned bronze for her first Paralympic medal. 

"I'm so excited. Saved the best for last. It's been a challenging Games, but I think that all is in the past now, and I'm so happy to have a medal,” Gosselin said.

"It really means everything to me. I don't think it's sunk in yet."

Sweden’s Ebba Aarsjoe, who was aiming for her fifth medal at the Tofane, recorded a Did Not Finish in the second run, concluding her second Games with three gold and a bronze medal. 

In the sitting category, China’s Wenjing Zhang won gold, finishing just 0.27 seconds ahead of first-time Paralympic medallist Nette Kiviranta of Finland. Paralympic debutant Audrey Pascual Seco took bronze, her fourth medal of the Games on her signature bright pink monoski.

"It is unbelievable,” Pascual Seco said. “I just wanted to finish a good race with not very bad times. I tried to just go with the flow, finish and don't overthink too much.”

"The first run went super well, and I managed to perform another good second run."

The final action

The men return to the slopes as Para alpine skiing concludes with slalom events on Sunday 14 March. The first race of the vision impaired classification starts at 09:00 local time, followed by the standing and sitting events. The medal-deciding second runs start from 13:00.

Johannes Aigner (vision impaired category), Arthur Bauchet (standing category) and Rene de Silvestro (sitting category) are among the athletes to watch.