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Canadian Para nordic skiing star Natalie Wilkie has now won a medal of every colour at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, adding bronze in the women’s standing sprint classic on Tuesday in Val di Fiemme.
It’s Wilkie’s first cross-country skiing medal in Italy after earning biathlon gold and silver.
The Salmon Arm, B.C., native crossed the line in a time of three minutes 40.2 seconds to finish behind Norway’s Vilde Nilsen (3:31.3) and American Sydney Peterson (3:35.5) in the six-woman final at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium.
After winning gold and silver medals on the weekend, Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., won a bronze medal on Tuesday in the women’s cross-country sprint standing classic final at Milano Cortina 2026.
The 25-year-old Wilkie was the top qualifier and had the fastest overall semifinal time (3:31.4) earlier in the day.
Wilkie, one of Canada’s flag-bearers for the opening ceremony, is now a 10-time Paralympic medallist. She took silver in Saturday’s sprint biathlon before winning the women’s individual biathlon on Sunday, making her three for three so far in Italy.
”It’s pretty awesome. My team’s preparations have been really great this year,” Wilkie said.
Wilkie’s family was there cheering her on, including sister Madeleine, fresh off of competing at last week’s Junior World Ski Championships in Lillehammer, Norway.
“It’s so great. My parents and sister are in the stands, my other friends are cheering for me as well, and then, of course there are the other athletes, staff, wax techs and stuff — everyone is out here cheering and it’s just awesome to see that support all around the course,” Wilkie said.
“I was a bit disappointed with today’s result and it was so nice to have my mom in the stands to give me a big hug after the race.”
Wilkie also won a full set of medals at PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022.
Canada now has eight medals through four days of competition at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics — one gold, three silver, four bronze. The full medal table is available here.
Watch the victory ceremony, as Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., is awarded her bronze medal from the cross-country skiing women’s standing sprint classic final in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I., finished last in the six-man final for the men’s standing sprint classic after clocking 2:49.7.
Belarus’ Raman Svirydzenka (2:35.4) won the race for his country’s first medal of the Games, finishing ahead of Germany’s Sebastian Marburger (2:38.1) and France’s Benjamin Daviet (2:42.2).
Canada’s Eriksson, Smith miss podium by 0.05 seconds
In Para alpine, the Canadian duo of Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith missed the podium by just 0.05 seconds in the men’s combined event, which consists of a super-G followed by a slalom.
Eriksson and Smith, aiming for their third medal in Italy, started strong by posting the second-fastest super-G (1:13.73), but their slalom time of 43.78 was only good for fifth, leaving them with a total time of 1:57.51.
The Canadians finished just over a minute behind Italian gold medallists Giacomo Bertagnolli and Andrea Ravelli (1:56.42) at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Neil Simpson and Rob Poth of Great Britain took silver in 1:57.07, while Austria’s Johannes Aigner and Nico Haberl beat out the Canadians for bronze.
Kimberley, B.C.’s Eriksson and Ottawa’s Smith, who are also partners, delivered Canada’s first medal of the Games with downhill silver on Saturday before adding super-G bronze on Monday.
Canada 5-0 in wheelchair curling
Mark Ideson’s Canadian rink remains undefeated in the mixed team tournament after a 9-4 victory against China.
Canada faced its toughest competition thus far, as both teams entered the contest unbeaten in round-robin play.
“China is reigning Paralympic champion [and] reigning world champion for a good reason. They’re a great team,” said third Jon Thurston, who completed an incredible now-viral shot against Norway on Monday.
“It’s always good battles between us. We bought our best game today.”
Canada is now the only undefeated rink after beating China 9-4, to improve their record to 5-0 at Milano Cortina 2026.
After a back-and-forth six ends, Canada pulled away in the seventh end with the hammer, claiming four rocks.
China (4-1) opted to concede the 8th end, confirming the final result for the Canadians.
Canada (5-0) takes on another stiff test against Sweden (4-1) at 1:35 p.m. ET.
CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux spoke with Canadian skip Mark Ideson, after Canada downed China to become the only undefeated rink at Milano Cortina 2026.
