Paraalpine skier wins Russia its first Paralympic medal in 12 years

Visually impaired paraalpine skier Varvara Voronchikhina won Russia’s first Paralympic medal since 2014 on Saturday by taking bronze in the women’s standing downhill competition.

Russian athletes compete again under your own flag at the Paralympic Winter Games in Milan Cortina, after years of having to do it as neutral athletes due to doping violations and the country’s military conflicts.

“For us, it’s a really long time when we were without (the) flag, and I’m very happy and my whole country and all my teammates are happy too,” said Voronchikhina, who is expected to compete for gold in other races in Milan Cortina.

Russia’s national anthem was able to play for the gold medalists for the first time on the stage of a major global sporting event since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian athletes were initially banned due to a state-sponsored doping program, and sanctions continued after the invasion.

Three other Russian athletes competed on Saturday: Para snowboarders Filipp Shebbo and Dmitrii Fadeev, and Para alpine skier Aleksei Bugaev.

The Russian flag made its official return during the parade of nations at Friday’s opening ceremony in Verona, marking the first time it has flown at the Paralympic Games since the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, and signaling a possible full return to Olympic circles ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The Russian national anthem for a gold medal has not been heard at any Olympic or Paralympic Games since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

Some boos were heard in the Arena di Verona when the Russian athletes took the stage during the parade.

Voronchikhina said that so far Russians have been treated well by everyone in Italy.

“It’s really good,” he said. “And in the town all good atmosphere and good conditions.”

Voronchikhina did not want to talk about the possibility of competing against Ukrainian athletes.

Russia arrived in Milan Cortina with six athletes. The International Paralympic Committee gave wild-card entries to Russian athletes, a decision that angered Ukraine and some other nations that boycotted the opening ceremony on Friday.