Standout Performances, Memorable Milestones Highlighted the U.S. Cross-Country Skiing Showing in Milano Cortina

Jack Berry said he had never felt more emotions at one time than he did during his first cross-country skiing race at the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in March. 

This was the first time the 18-year-old from Missoula, Montana, was competing on the world’s largest stage, and he described the experience as “epic.” 

Jake Adicoff, meanwhile, called the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics “one of the most stressful weeks” of his life. It didn’t matter that he had raced at the previous three Winter Games, winning a gold medal and three silvers as a cross-country skier. 

This was a whole new challenge for Adicoff, a visually impaired skier from Sun Valley, Idaho. He admitted he was both overflowing with confidence and overwhelmed with doubt as he attempted to accomplish his lofty goal of winning multiple golds in Italy. 

Even after four years of racing and training across the globe, the Winter Paralympics had a way of bringing out a wave of emotions for the eight sit skiers, three standing skiers and two visually impaired skiers named to Team USA. 

It also inspired record-breaking performances, personal bests and a lifetime of memories as the 13 athletes competed in a full slate of Nordic skiing events at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Predazzo, Italy. 

“I’m so excited, so happy, and I’m also a little relieved. It was a big, hefty goal, and it’s been a long, long week fighting for it,” Adicoff told USParaNordic.org after he won his fourth and final gold of Milano Cortina with a victory in the 20-kilometer race on March 15. 

“Finishing with the 20-kilmoeter race is hard. I didn’t feel my best. There were some really big moments of doubt out there. It was some really hard skiing, and it was a fight, but in the end, it’s a fun day.” 

Boosted by several standout performances from Nordic skiers, Team USA won 24 medals at Milano Cortina, trailing only China’s 44 medals. Eleven of those U.S. medals came in cross-country skiing, to go with another four in biathlon. 

The Mastery Continues 

Heading into the Winter Paralympics, much of the attention was focused on sit skier Oksana Masters as the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time attempted a comeback from a series of injuries that has sidelined her for much of the past two years.

Masters showed she had regained her dominant form in the first cross-country skiing event of Milano Cortina — the sprint on March 10. She admitted she was looking to redeem herself after failing to medal in a biathlon race two days earlier that shook her confidence. 

After cruising into the sprint finals, Masters won the gold in 3 minutes, 7.1 seconds — three seconds faster than South Korea’s Kim Yunji. It was the first time Masters won gold in the sprint since the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics. 

“When I lined up at the start line, I was so hungry and wanted redemption,” Masters told USParaNordic.org. “It’s been eight years since I won the cross-country sprint gold. This is just surreal.” 

Masters won five medals at Milano Cortina, including three golds and a bronze in cross-country skiing, to give her a total of 24 medals over eight Summer and Winter Paralympics. 

A Thrilling Relay 

One of Masters’ most dramatic races came when she skied the second leg for the U.S. in the mixed 4x2.5K relay on March 14. 

After sit skiers Josh Sweeney and Masters opened the race with a pair of strong performances, standing skier Sydney Peterson gave the Americans a chance to win gold heading into the anchor leg. 

Adicoff, with close friend Reid Goble leading the way as his personal guide, then erased a 48-second deficit and passed three teams on the course to help Team USA cross the finish line first in 23:24.2. In doing so, the Americans defended the relay gold they had won four years ago in Beijing. Sweeney, meanwhile, earned his second career gold medal after also winning one in 2014 with the U.S. sled hockey team. 

“Being part of a team is always so much better,” Peterson, a two-time Paralympian, told USParaNordic.org. “We did this four years ago, and now to be back here and do it four years later… we’ve all grown so much and been through a lot, and it’s awesome to just be back and firing on all cylinders.” 

Team USA Milestones 

Plenty of milestones were accomplished along the way.  

Adicoff, now an eight-time Paralympic medalist, became the first openly gay man to win an individual gold at the Winter Paralympics. 

Peterson earned even more accolades as she pursues a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Utah. Four years after qualifying for her first Paralympics at the last minute, she returned as an accomplished veteran and added three gold medals and a silver medal to the full set — gold, silver, bronze — she won in 2022. Two of her gold medals came in individual cross-country events, the 10K and 20K.

Sit skier Aaron Pike joined his fiancée Masters is qualifying for his eighth consecutive Paralympics, including both the Winter and Summer Games. 

Another sit skier and multi-sport star, Kendall Gretsch, continued her Winter Games success with four more medals, including a bronze in the 10K cross-country event. That brings her to 11 total medals in five Paralympics. 

Dan Cnossen competed in his fourth Winter Games. Though the seven-time medalist fell shy of another podium, the 45-year-old sit skier said he’s at a point in his career where he’s embracing the journey, which in this case took him to the southernmost city in the world in his quest to make the Paralympic team.

Standing skier Dani Aravich, meanwhile, recorded her best finish in a cross-country skiing event at the Winter Paralympics when she placed sixth in the sprint. The three-time Paralympian also earned a sixth-place finish in the individual biathlon. 

Making Memories 

As Aravich competed, the staff at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center in Bozeman, Montana, where she lives and trains year-round, cheered for her and her teammates Nicole Zaino and Michael Kneeland. Zaino and Kneeland, both sit skiers who were making their Paralympic debuts, also train at Crosscut.

“Six years ago, I stepped onto Nordic skis for the first time, and this week I had my best finishes ever at the Paralympic Games — two 6th places,” Aravich wrote on Instagram. “Is it the medal I dream about? No. Am I proud of it? Honestly, yeah.” 

Berry, a recent high school graduation, admitted he has struggled with his confidence at times and needed to do some soul searching to reach his potential in Para Nordic skiing. However, after learning to set goals, he finished 12th in the 10K race at the Winter Paralympics.

Berry also teamed with Kneeland and two-time Paralympians Erin Martin (sitting) and Max Nelson (visually impaired) to finish 11th in the open 4x2.5K relay. It was another special moment for Nelson, who was racing only one year after a tumor the size of a tennis ball was removed from his brain.

“I just I feel blessed every single day because I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to walk again,” Nelson told USParaNordic.org. “So, I’m incredibly just blessed to where I am right now to be able to even ski, race and to do everything I love. So, I’m extremely grateful for where I am now.” 

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.