Road to Milano Cortina 2026 Starts Strong for Team USA at IBU World Cup opener in Canmore

With Milano Cortina 2026 on the horizon, Team USA kicked off the 2025-26 IBU Para Biathlon World Cup season by making an immediate statement in Canmore. Across three days of racing, U.S. athletes delivered victories, and podium finishes that set a determined tone for the season ahead. 

Kendall Gretsch was one of the standout athletes of the weekend, sweeping all three Women’s Sitting races to open the season undefeated. Aaron Pike matched that consistency in the Men’s Sitting category, following a silver medal in the Sprint with back-to-back victories in the Sprint Pursuit and Individual races. Josh Sweeney celebrated the first World Cup podium of his career in Saturday’s Sprint Pursuit and earned top 10 finishes throughout the weekend, while Oksana Masters continued her return to world cup competition with multiple podiums and a fourth-place finish in the individual race. 

With momentum already building and confidence growing across the roster, the U.S. Para Nordic team heads into the next World Cup stop in Poland (January 21-25, 2026) with a clear message: the push toward Milano Cortina is at full effort. 

GOLD 
Kendall Gretsch – Women’s Sitting 

SILVER 
Oksana Masters – Women’s Sitting 
Aaron Pike – Men’s Sitting 

Other Team USA results: 
Josh Sweeney – 4th, Men’s Sitting 
Dan Aravich – 5th, Women’s Sitting 
Nicole Zaino – 8th, Women’s Sitting 
Erin Martin – 9th, Women’s Sitting 
Zhenghong Schlechte – 14th, Men’s Standing 
Michael Kneeland – 14th, Men’s Sitting 
Ty Wiberg – 16th, Men’s Sitting 

GOLD 
Aaron Pike – Men’s Sitting 
Kendall Gretsch – Women’s Sitting 

SILVER 
Josh Sweeney – Men’s Sitting 

BRONZE 
Oksana Masters – Women’s Sitting 

Other Team USA results: 
Dani Aravich – 4th, Women’s Standing 

GOLD 
Aaron Pike – Men’s Sitting 
Kendall Gretsch – Women’s Sitting 

Other Team USA results: 
Josh Sweeney – 6th, Men’s Sitting 
Dani Aravich – 7th, Women’s Standing 
Oksana Masters – 4th, Women’s Sitting

Complete results can be found on the International Biathlon Union website.