Winter Paralympics 2026: Olympian Emanuele Berathoner wins Paralympic gold for Italy

As an Olympian and now a Paralympian, Italian Emanuele Berathoner is a member of an exclusive club.

And on Sunday, the para-snowboarder capped off his Paralympic debut with his first gold medal, a dominant victory in the men’s LL2 (lower extremity) snowboard cross to claim his country’s first title at the Milan-Cortina Games on home soil.

Only about 20 athletes have competed in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, while Berathoner became only the second to compete in both the Winter Games.

Eight years ago, the 39-year-old had just finished competing in his second Olympics. He claimed a World Championship medal in 2019 and was looking forward to competing in his third Olympic Games in Beijing four years later, and in the process, won his first World Cup title.

But a year after the 2022 Games, he was involved in a devastating accident, which “destroyed” his knee and suffered multiple fractures in his left leg, effectively ending his Olympic career.

For a while, Berathoner’s only goal was to learn to walk again. He had a total knee replacement, but never thought he would qualify for the Paralympics because he “still had all my body parts”.

While visiting his old teammates at a training camp in Stelvio, attended by Italian team Para Snowboard, he realized it was a trip he could take.

“I knew something about the world of the Paralympics, but until you join it, you don’t realize how competitive it is: how ignorant I was,” he told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta., external.

He made his Paralympic snowboard debut in late 2022. Competing with limited mobility in his knee and ankle, he has since won 31 World Cup medals in various disciplines, as well as three World Championship golds.

Berathoner enters the Paralympics as the favorite in both events – snowboarding and slalom next Saturday – having been beaten only three times since 2024.

He dominated proceedings in Cortina, cruising effortlessly through each heat before crossing the line more than three seconds ahead of Australian silver medalist Ben Tudhope in the final. Korean Lee Ji-hyuk won the bronze medal.

“I’m very happy to be bringing home the gold medal. It’s very close to my hometown, so [doing it] In front of my family, that was the best part.”

“I could hear the crowd cheering for us as riders. Not just for me, but for everyone. I think that was the most emotional moment.

“I thought: The last four years have been totally worth it. All the work I’ve been doing, all the traveling, all the time away from home, it’s been worth it.”