Golden start for Oksana Masters, Kendall Gretsch secures silver to kick off Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games

PREDAZZO, Italy – Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) opened competition for Team USA in dominant fashion at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games on Saturday, capturing gold in the women’s biathlon sprint to earn the 20th Paralympic medal of her career and her 10th gold. Alongside Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Illinois), the duo finished 1-2 today, marking Team USA’s first two medals of Milano Cortina 2026.

“My emotions are just pure shock – I did not expect a podium finish, to be honest, let alone a gold,” said Masters. “It means the world to me. I feel like now I can kind of relax and enjoy the Games, enjoy the moment. I'm always shooting for gold, but that's not the ultimate reason and I know it doesn't define me. To be able to just have that gold knowing that everything went to plan, my team, my ski coach, my strength coach – everyone. I think that's what means the most.”

Masters delivered a flawless performance on the range, shooting clean through all three rounds while pairing it with a powerful effort on the course to secure the victory, finishing the course in a time of 21:21.3. The result further cements her status as the most decorated U.S. winter Paralympian of all time.

Gretsch joined Masters on the podium with a silver-medal finish, marking the eighth Paralympic medal of her career after crossing the finish line in 21:37.3. Gretsch also shot clean across all three shooting stages.

“I'm really excited and just happy to get the first race under my belt,” said Gretsch. “I think you're always kind of nervous coming into the first race, how things are going to be, where your fitness is at – so it's definitely a really good start and hopefully our team keeps building from here and maintains this.”

Rounding out the women’s sitting field was Nicole Zaino (Brookfield, Connecticut) who placed 11th. In the men’s sitting class, Josh Sweeney (Glendale, Arizona) placed fifth, Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minnesota) finished sixth and Michael Kneeland (Bozeman, Montana) placed 19th, with all three athletes shooting clean.

Sydney Peterson (Lake Elmo, Minnesota) and Dani Aravich (Boise, Idaho) competed in the women’s standing class, finishing fourth and 10th, respectively.

Follow and watch U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing competition from Milano Cortina 2026 on NBCUniversal, which will showcase more than 270 hours of total programming across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, CNBC, and NBC Sports Digital platforms, along with a record number of primetime hours on NBC. Follow U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing on Instagram, Facebook and X for daily updates from Milano Cortina.

For photo and media requests, please contact Olivia Truby at Olivia.Truby@usopc.org.

Team USA Results

Oksana Masters, gold, women’s sitting biathlon sprint

Kendall Grestch, silver, women’s sitting biathlon sprint

Sydney Peterson, fourth, women’s standing biathlon sprint

Josh Sweeney, fifth, men’s sitting biathlon sprint

Aaron Pike, sixth, men’s sitting biathlon sprint

Dani Aravich, 10th, women’s standing biathlon sprint

Michael Kneeland, 19th, men’s sitting biathlon sprint