Winter Paralympics 2026: Varvara Voronchikhina wins first gold for Russia since 2014

Alpine skier Varvara Voronchikhina won Russia’s first Paralympic gold medal since 2014 with a win in the super-G.

It comes two days after the 23-year-old won the downhill bronze on Saturday to claim her country’s first medal at the Games.

These Games mark the first appearance of the Russian flag at the Paralympics since the event was held in Sochi 12 years ago. Russia and its athletes were banned following a state-sponsored doping scandal before further sanctions were imposed following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Voronchikhina and her teammates only returned to international competition in January after Russia won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the Islamic Salvation Front, the international governing body for skiing and snowboarding.

The FIS initially refused to lift the ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus, although the International Paralympic Committee ended its ban on the two countries in September.

The ban had been in place since the invasion of Ukraine on the eve of the Winter Paralympics four years ago, although it was relaxed the following year to allow athletes to compete as neutrals.

Voronchikhina crossed the finish line in a time of 1 minute 15.6 seconds on the famous Olympia delle Toffani track, almost two seconds faster than French silver medalist Aurélie Richard. Sweden’s Ebba Arsjo won the bronze medal.

Her victory ceremony will be held later Monday, after all the alpine skiing events have concluded for the day, when the Russian national anthem will be played.

While competing in her first Paralympic Games, Voronchikhina is a two-time world champion – including the super-G – as of 2021, and has four more medal opportunities at these Games.