Five Storylines to Follow as the U.S. Nordic Skiing Team Takes on The 2026 Paralympics

The wait is finally over, and it’s now time for the top American Para Nordic skiers to get on snow and compete on the world’s largest stage. 

After traveling around the globe over the past few years to train and compete in world cup events, the 13 Nordic skiers representing Team USA on the U.S. Paralympics Team are set to start racing at the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

The Games kick off with the Opening Ceremony on March 6, with biathlon scheduled for March 7-8 and 13, and cross-country skiing March 10-11 and 14-15. Nordic skiing will take place at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, a location familiar to many U.S. skiers after competing in a world cup there last year. 

There are plenty of intriguing storylines for fans to pay attention to over the next few weeks, from Oksana Masters’ return from a slew of injuries to Max Nelson’s incredible comeback from brain cancer.  

Here are five storylines to watch from Val di Fiemme: 

Oksana Masters’ Return 

Masters has established herself as one of the world’s most famous Paralympians with her dominant performances and crossover appeal. Her cross-country skiing and biathlon races at Milano Cortina will be must-watches. 

The sit skier was one of the biggest stars of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics, where she earned a medal in all seven events that she competed in (three golds and four silvers). In doing so, she broke the record for most medals by an American at a single Winter Paralympics and became the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time. 

Masters, a 19-time Paralympic medalist in Nordic skiing, cycling and rowing, enters these Winter Paralympics with even more motivation after a difficult year. She was forced to miss this past season after needing surgery to repair a torn ligament in her right hand that affected her trigger finger for the biathlon. 

Masters, 36, has worked her way back into shape, and she’ll look to prove that she’s still the sit skier to beat when she takes the snow in Italy. She admitted she’ll be mad if she doesn’t win, but added, “I’m not going to put my whole self-worth on the medal and the results.” 

Seven-time Paralympic medalist Kendall Gretsch, who is Masters’ friend and teammate, could be her biggest competitor for gold in various sit skiing events. The two Americans often occupy the top two spots on the medal podium. They’re also among Team USA’s multi-sport stars. Gretsch, 33, is a two-time Paralympic medalist in triathlon.

Possible First-Time Medalists 

Several Americans could be on the cusp of earning their first Paralympic medals, starting with Aaron Pike. 

Going into his eighth straight Paralympics, Pike has enjoyed a decorated career as a multi-sport star who competes in Nordic skiing during the winter and track and field during the summer. He has won a pair of individual world championships as a sit skier, including one at the 2025 IBU Para Biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia. 

The only thing that has eluded Pike, who’s engaged to Masters, is a Paralympic medal. 

Josh Sweeney, meanwhile, earned a gold medal as a member of the U.S. men’s sled hockey team at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics. But the retired U.S. Marine Corps scout sniper from Boise, Idaho, hasn’t earned a medal as a sit skier just yet.  

Sweeney showed he’ll be in contention for one after winning a gold in the men’s 1-kilometer sprint race in late January at a world cup in Jakuszyce, Poland. It was his first time winning a gold at a world cup. 

“I’m actually really excited. I’m so excited for these Games it’s borderline nervous because I feel like I’m doing really well, and I’m enjoying it and I want to keep doing well,” Sweeney told USParaNordic.org. “But obviously, you just have to go out and perform and perform at your best and do what you’ve been doing.” 

Three-time Paralympian Dani Aravich, nicknamed “The Biathlon Bandit,” could also make a push for her first Paralympic medal if everything goes well. A standing skier, she continues to improve in the sport, and she reached the medal podium for the first time at an international event when she earned a bronze at a biathlon world cup in Torsby, Sweden, last March. 

Max Nelson’s Inspirational Comeback 

Max Nelson took an incredible path to qualifying for his second Winter Paralympics as a visually impaired skier. It’s the type of story that should have fans rooting for the Grant, Minnesota, native. 

A year ago, Nelson was diagnosed with brain cancer and had a tumor the size of a tennis ball removed. The emergency surgery left him unable to talk, walk or use the right side of his body, and he spent nearly two months in the hospital.  

Nelson, who’s a member of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing development team, gradually regained his mobility. He got back on a pair of roller skis for the first time since his surgery during the week before the Fourth of July. 

Nelson said he wasn’t sure if he would be able to qualify for Milano Cortina, but he admitted it would be special if he did after such a difficult year. 

“It would mean a lot to me,” Nelson told USParaNordic.org late last year. “… I don’t even know if I’m close to making it, but if I do, I just will thank the Lord above because it’s honestly a miracle that I would even be there with everything I’ve had to go through.” 

Nelson made his Paralympic debut in 2022 as a high school senior, and he celebrated his 18th birthday the day after the Opening Ceremony in Beijing. Being at this year’s Winter Paralympics will be an emotional experience for him. 

Jake Adicoff and Sydney Peterson Chase More Hardware 

Jake Adicoff has proven to be one of the world’s fastest visually impaired skiers with a gold and three silvers at his previous three Winter Paralympics, but he’s looking for more. 

Adicoff, a native of Sun Valley, Idaho, is in position to compete for multiple medals at Milano Cortina. He’ll have his close friends, Reid Goble and Peter Wolter, by his side as they serve as his personal guides during his races. 

A year ago, Adicoff and Goble overcame tricky course conditions to win the 10K classic style race on the opening day of the 2025 FIS Para-Cross Country World Championships in Toblach, Italy. He then paired with Wolter to cruise to the gold in the 20K freestyle race at the world championships.  

Adicoff is still looking to win his first individual Paralympic gold, and he’ll get his chance over the next few weeks. His lone gold came as a member of the U.S. 4x2.5-kilometer mixed relay team four years ago in Beijing. 

Sydney Peterson, a standing skier, was part of that winning relay team. The Stillwater, Minnesota, native only learned she had qualified for the Beijing Games with three weeks to spare. The whirlwind experience nonetheless ended with a full set of medals: gold, silver and bronze. 

Peterson had a more traditional qualifying period this time around, but as a PhD student studying neuroscience at the University of Utah, the buildup for her second Paralympics remains as hectic as ever.

“The past four years have definitely gone by really fast,” Peterson told USParaNordic.org in October. “I think looking back to when I was a little kid, and you’d watch the Games every four years, it seemed like four years was such a long time, and it’s almost like you wanted them to be more often. … Now being a part of it, four years seems so fast, and it’s just this reverse mentality of there’s not enough time to actually train and prepare.” 

A Youth Movement on Team USA 

Fans will catch a glimpse of the next generation of budding American Para Nordic skiers, thanks to several newcomers who’ll make their Paralympic debuts in Milano Cortina. 

Sit skier Michael Kneeland was added to Team USA on Feb. 16 after receiving a special exception from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation and the International Biathlon Union to compete at the Winter Paralympics. 

The 20-year-old Montana State student has made a fast rise in the sport since he started sit skiing at age 17. He was named to the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing development team, and he spent this past offseason training in his hometown of Bozeman, Montana, with Aravich and several other top skiers. 

Kneeland will compete in both cross-country skiing and the biathlon in Italy. 

Jack Berry, who’s also a member of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing development team, is taking a gap year before he starts college to focus on standing skiing. A year ago, he qualified to compete at the Val di Fiemme World Cupas a 17-year-old high school senior from Missoula, Montana.

Milano Cortina will be the biggest stage that the two athletes have competed so far, and it could serve as a breakout moment for them. 

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.