Para alpine skier Eriksson, guide Smith earn silver for Canada's 1st medal of Milano-Cortina Paralympics

para river alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and steer scomberomorus sierra ian smith took atomic number 47 in the men's visually impaired downhill competition for Canada's first medal of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Saturday in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

The duo clocked a time of one minute 18.33 seconds at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre to reach the podium in their Paralympic debut.

Austria's Johannes Aigner and Nico Haberl finished 2.25 seconds ahead of them for gold, while Italy's Giacomo Bertagnolli and Andrea Ravelli took bronze in 1:18.64.

Kalle Eriksson, Sierra Smith win silver for Canada’s 1st medal at Milano-Cortina Paralympics

Eriksson, of Kimberley, B.C., and Ottawa's Smith have only been competing together since 2022. They won silver medals in the slalom and giant slalom at last year's world championships and have earned 22 career World Cup medals across three seasons.

The Canadians communicate through a two-way headset.

Calgarian sit-skier Kurt Oatway also reached the downhill podium for his classification, earning bronze with a time of 1:19.42. Norwegian Paralympic star Jesper Pedersen topped the podium in 1:18.14, followed by Dutch skier Niels de Langen (1:19.24).

Canadian medal hopeful Alexis Guimond registered a DNF in the men's standing downhill after losing his balance while leaning into an early turn. The 26-year-old from Gatineau, Que., was able to ski off the course on his own.

Mollie Jepsen of West Vancouver, B.C., who took Paralympic gold four years ago in the women's standing downhill, missed the podium Saturday by just 4.10 seconds in fourth place.

The 26-year-old revealed after the race that she re-aggravated a lower-body injury from a month ago and could be out for the remainder of the Games.

Calgary’s Kurt Oatway wins para downhill bronze in Milano-Cortina

Para nordic star Natalie Wilkie added another silver for Canada shortly after Eriksson and Smith in the women's standing sprint biathlon event.

The 25-year-old from Salmon Arm, B.C., posted a time of 18:46.4 over the 7.5-kilometre course while shooting clean through two rounds at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme.

Wilkie finished 4.9 seconds back of Ukraine's Oleksandra Kononova, who was joined on the podium by countrymate Liudmyla Liashenko (19:13.9).

Brittany Hudak of Prince Albert, Sask., finished sixth in 19:43.3.

Hartsville, P.E.I., native Mark Arendz, competing at his fifth Paralympics, was fifth in the men's standing sprint.

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

Russian athletes are back competing under their own flag in the Winter Paralympics at Milan Cortina after years of having to do so as neutral athletes because of the country's doping violations and military conflicts.

"For us, it's a really long time when we [were] without [the] flag, and I'm really glad and all my country and all my teammates, we [are] glad also," said Voronchikhina, who is expected to be competing for the gold in other races at Milan Cortina.

Russia's national anthem could be played for gold medallists 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 because of a state-sponsored doping program, and the sanctions had continued after the invasion.

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