For U.S. Nordic Skiers, Qualifying For The Milano Cortina Paralympics Is All About Performance

Dani Aravich has qualified for both the Summer and Winter Paralympics, but the process of getting to each of the Games was drastically different for her.

As a former sprinter, Aravich knew she needed a solid performance at the 2021 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in Minneapolis to qualify for that year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo. She had one day to prove she deserved a spot in Tokyo, and it was all or nothing for her when she stepped onto the track.

Aravich didn’t feel nearly as much pressure the following year when it was time to qualify as a standing Nordic skier for the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics. Instead of everything hinging on how she performed at one meet, she had her results from multiple cross-country skiing events to show she was worthy of competing in Beijing.

“It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, unless something terrible happens, I’m likely to qualify (for the Winter Paralympics),” Aravich said, “which was so different from my experience in track and field.”

The criteria for Para Nordic skiers to qualify for the Winter Paralympics can sometimes be a bit confusing, even for the athletes hoping to make the U.S. team.

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing has a document detailing what athletes must do to qualify for the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 posted on its website. The document is 21 pages long and dense, like an instruction manual.

“I mean it’s a really long document for the selection procedures,” sit skier and Paralympic hopeful Nicole Zaino said, laughing. “… I didn’t even how selection even worked until the criteria came out. I definitely had to read it a few times.”

In a nutshell, 12 athletes — split evenly between six men and six women — will qualify to compete in biathlon and cross-country skiing in Milano Cortina, with selections based primarily on results leading up to the Games. There’s also a chance the U.S. could add to that team through the International Paralympic Committee’s Bipartite Commission Invitation allocation process.

Nick Michaud, who’s a coach with U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing, said the qualifying process is inherently “nerve-racking,” even if an athlete has an acute understanding of how it all works.

“When something matters this much, nerves are a part of the process. What’s important is channeling that energy into performance,” Michaud said. “Nerves can be a very powerful tool. This group is prepared. They’ve earned the right to believe in themselves.”

As a relative newcomer to the Para version of the sport, standing skier Sydney Peterson was added to Team USA only three weeks before the start of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics. Since she was unable to qualify for the Games in a traditional way, she needed an invitation from World Para Nordic Skiing and the IPC to compete in Beijing.

Peterson ended up earning three medals during her Paralympic debut in 2022, including a gold. She’s now a member of the U.S Paralympics Nordic Skiing national team and working her way toward qualifying for Milano Cortina the more traditional way.

“In the past I’ve had strong results, and I’m hoping if I can keep that up I’ll be set up in a good position,” she said.

Michaud said the dozen Para Nordic skiers who’ll be named to Team USA will be known by around Feb. 16. The simplest way for athletes to earn a spot on the team is by accumulating points with top finishes at major cross-country skiing events throughout the season.

Using the point system, the top American men and women will make the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing team in Italy regardless of their Paralympic classification.

“Most athletes have a good sense of where they stand based on their current points profile, but there are always exciting battles for the final qualification spots,” Michaud said. “This time of year is full of anticipation. Athletes have trained relentlessly, and now they’re eager to see that work translate into results.”

Aravich noted that the number of female skiers competing for spots on Team USA is smaller, making that roster easier to predict. But a larger field of men’s skiers are prepping for the upcoming season, which begins in early December.

“It's definitely going to be very important for some of our (development) men to race well early on the season to achieve their ranking, so that they can earn a spot,” Aravich said. “But women, we have less people going for the same amount of spots. So, it’s a bit more comfortable, I’d say, for us, whereas the men it’s going to probably come down to the wire on who gets the spots.”

For all the information packed into the criteria to qualify for the Winter Paralympics, Zaino said her path to Milano Cortina appears fairly simple. She must ski fast, perform well at world cup events this winter and accumulate enough points to make her Winter Paralympic debut in March.

“Luckily, you can ask teammates or the (U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing) staff for clarification or explanation of (the Winter Paralympic criteria) because it is a lot of information,” Zaino said. “But they do a pretty good job of trying to make it clear, and they have like a little diagram of the process to understand it.”

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.