{"id":814343,"date":"2026-03-09T12:27:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/814343\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T12:27:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:27:22","slug":"russia-wins-first-winter-paralympic-gold-medal-for-12-years-amid-widespread-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/814343\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia wins first winter Paralympic gold medal for 12 years amid widespread backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Varvara Voronchikhina has secured Russia’s first winter Paralympic gold medal in 12 years, triumphing in the women’s standing super-G at the Milan Cortina Games.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old Para-alpine skier, who was born missing part of her left hand, completed the course in 1 minute 15.60 seconds on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Her victory represents a landmark moment for Russian Paralympic sport, ending a gold medal drought stretching back to the 2014 Sochi Games on home soil.<\/p>\n

This is Voronchikhina’s second medal of these Paralympics, following the standing downhill bronze she claimed on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Racing second in a field of 15 competitors, Voronchikhina delivered a flawless performance in the latter half of the 38-gate course on the iconic Olimpia delle Tofane piste.<\/p>\n

She reached peak speeds of 85 kilometres per hour through the middle section, faster than any other competitor, and celebrated with a fist pump as she crossed the finish line to applause.<\/p>\n

France’s Aurelie Richard took silver in 1:17.56, nearly two seconds behind the Russian, adding to her downhill silver from Saturday. <\/p>\n

Richard had been quicker early on but lost crucial time after going wide and having to correct her line.<\/p>\n

\"Varvara<\/p>\n

Varvara Voronchikhina has secured Russia’s first winter Paralympic gold medal in 12 years<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

REUTERS<\/p>\n

Sweden’s Ebba Aarsjoe claimed bronze in 1:17.64, complementing her downhill gold.<\/p>\n

Russia’s participation at these Games follows years of exclusion from Paralympic competition. <\/p>\n

Athletes were initially banned in 2018 due to state-sponsored doping, with further sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine on the eve of the 2022 Winter Paralympics.<\/p>\n

The International Paralympic Committee lifted its suspension of Russia and Belarus last September, despite heavy backlash.<\/p>\n

\"Varvara<\/p>\n

Russia’s participation at these Games follows years of exclusion from Paralympic competition<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

REUTERS<\/p>\n

However, FIS, the international skiing and snowboarding governing body, maintained its own ban.<\/p>\n

Voronchikhina and her teammates only returned to international competition in January after successfully appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIS on grounds of discrimination. <\/p>\n

Russia was granted six automatic entries to these Games, with Belarus receiving four.<\/p>\n

The medal ceremony is scheduled for later on Monday, following the conclusion of the day’s Para-alpine skiing events, when Russia’s national anthem will be heard at a Paralympics for the first time since Sochi 2014.<\/p>\n

\"\\u200bRussian<\/p>\n

Russia’s flag flew at a Paralympic Winter Games opening ceremony<\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

Voronchikhina said: “It’s really special for me because I can see my flag on my friends who arrived here. It’s amazing. <\/p>\n

“I have a big support in my family and my friends and all people in Russia.”<\/p>\n

Though competing at her debut Paralympic Games, the Russian is a two-time world champion from 2021, including in the super G, and remains in contention for further medals.<\/p>\n

The controversy surrounding the inclusion of six Russian and four Belarusian athletes had dominated discussions in the lead-up to the Games.<\/p>\n

The International Paralympic Committee is facing criticism from multiple countries over its decision to lift the ban.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Varvara Voronchikhina has secured Russia’s first winter Paralympic gold medal in 12 years, triumphing in the women’s standing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7655],"tags":[332,93,144593],"class_list":["post-814343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-russia","tag-russia","tag-sport","tag-winter-olympics"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116199217379398608","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}