Like all good things, even the greatest sporting competition in the world must come to an end. It's officially the end of the 2026 Milan Cortina Paralympic Games, where we were treated to intense action and incredible achievements throughout the competition, particularly from Team USA’s para Nordic skiing team.

Let’s take another look back at the top moments from both the para biathlon and para cross-country competitions in Italy:

With an all-star mixed relay team featuring Josh Sweeney, Oksana Masters, Sydney Peterson and Jake Adicoff, the U.S. entered the race as the team to beat. Each athlete already had won at least one individual gold at the Milan Cortina Games except for Sweeney, who won gold with Team USA sled hockey at Sochi 2014. The American squad also was the defending gold medalist, after Masters, Peterson and Adicoff helped the team to gold in 2022.

Sweeney got the team out of the gate strong, finishing the first 2.5km leg in second place. Masters was next and handed the reigns to Peterson in 3rd. In the third stint, Peterson kept the team competitive, eventually handing off to Adicofff for the last leg in 4th.

Over the final stretch, Adicoff and guide Reid Goble were flawless, bringing the United States back from behind to win gold. It was a special gold medal across the board: for Sweeney, it was his first medal in para Nordic skiing, for Masters, it was her fourth gold medal in Italy (a single Games record for her) and for Adicoff, it kept his dreams of a perfect cross-country gold sweep going.

"We knew that we were going to be in a bit of a time deficit, but that's how this relay is set up. That's how our team is set up. So it was part of the plan,” Adicoff said after the relay. "You can't talk about the last leg without talking about the first three. Those were some crazy performances from our team. It made skiing our part of the race a lot easier. It was hard, but it was fun.”

It was a historic Games for Masters from the very first moment she took to the snow. While she entered the Games as the United States' most decorated Winter Paralympian of all time, her road to Italy wasn't easy; Masters announced days before the Games she was dealing with a recurring leg infection and concussion in the lead-up to Italy, and wasn't sure what condition she would be in when the time came.

Let's just say those fears were put to rest very quickly. In her first race of the Games, the women's biathlon 7.5km sitting race, Masters blasted her way to victory by a 16-second margin. It was dominant, it was historic, and it was so, incredibly characteristic of Masters as an athlete. The gold medal was her 20th career Paralympic medal, making her just the sixth U.S. athlete to meet or surpass that mark.

“My emotions are just pure shock. I did not expect this. All I was hoping was just to have a good time in the shooting range,” Masters said after the race. "I did not expect a podium finish to be honest, let alone a gold....I'm starting to realize that's who I am; I have to have adversity going into the Games, although I don't like it."

With that first win down, Masters would go on to secure three more Paralympic titles in Italy: she won gold in the para cross-country women's sprint pursuit sitting, the women's 10km and the mixed team relay, while also picking up bronze in the women's 20km race. Her four golds in Italy are a personal record for a single Games, and also moved her into 2nd place on Team USA's all-time gold medal list for the Winter Paralympics. 

“For me, I have a very strong 'why', where every single stroke for me counts. It's for every Paralympian, every athlete with a disability that was overlooked and was told they were never going to be enough and didn't belong,” Masters said. "That helps me overcome those adversities."

With all the accolades and all the history, Masters still is motivated by individual goals, taking nothing for granted. The cross-country sprint was one of those goals: it was a race that "got away" from her in Beijing (she scored silver), and was yet another target she knocked down in Italy.

"It was just such a relief and redemption from Beijing. It was the one that got away,” Masters said after the sprint race. "I struggle with believing in myself and that was a big thing. The team believed in me, so I wanted to show up for my team. The key is not to carry what happened in the past. Just fight the fight today."

For Adicoff, the lead up to Games looked very different from his teammate. While Masters publicly admitted she wasn't certain how competitive she would be in Italy, Adicoff went the opposite way: he publicly made clear his intention to go for the perfect golden sweep of his para-cross country events, placing himself directly in the spotlight heading into his fourth Paralympic Games.

Perfection at the Paralympics means taking each race one at a time, and for Adicoff that meant starting with men's cross country VI sprint, a race he had been chasing a victory in since his debut Games at Sochi 2014. He had been 8th, then 4th, then 2nd, but had yet to reach the top step of the podium in that event (or in any individual event).

In Tesoro, he finally found that gold, taking the win by one and a half seconds.

"I wanted it pretty bad, you know? A long-standing goal for this individual gold medal (as) I went for it so many times in the past,” Adicoff said after the race. “An accumulation of all the work, that's what's motivating me the most. I love skiing, love ski racing, so it makes finding the motivation kind of easy."

With that first hurdle cleared, Adicoff seemed to find another gear. His next race — the para cross-country men's 10km VI — he won by a whopping 1:48.7, just a day after winning the sprint. Suddenly, Adicoff was two-for-two, halfway through the Games and well on his way to his goal. Then, in the mixed team relay, Adicoff took the United States from 4th to 1st in the final leg, keeping his own dream alive and ensuring his teammates all got gold alongside him.

Finally, Adicoff's dream became reality when he skied his way to victory in the men's 20km VI race. What had seemed so daunting was now accomplished: a perfect four-for-four gold medal sweep at his most successful Paralympic Games ever.

"I feel good. I’m happy that it worked out, I am relieved and feel so much right now. It’s good," Adicoff said afterward. "It’s incredibly scary to put a high goal out to the public. I was doubting it so much this week, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but the races came together and I’m just overjoyed."

Similar to Adicoff, Peterson already was a decorated competitor coming into Italy. The one thing missing? An individual gold medal to go along with the mixed team relay gold and individual silver and bronze medals she got in Beijing.

In her first race in Italy, Peterson finished in second, just over four seconds behind Vilde Nilsen in the women's cross-country sprint standing race. 

"I’m pretty happy, it was a really fun day, a really fun race and I’m pretty stoked about how the result turned out,” Peterson said afterward. "Every time you go up to the starting line at the Games, it gets harder and there’s more pressure. There are many more hurdles to get through, so I’m pretty stoked about it. I’m very happy with how I skied today."

While each Games may bring new obstacles to overcome, Peterson seemed to gain momentum every time she took to the course. In her next event, the women's cross-country 10km race, Peterson outsprinted Nilsen for gold to win her first ever individual Paralympic title.

"I’m super excited. It was a really tough race out there (and) really tough conditions, but I’m really happy with it,” Peterson said. "It’s really cool. I feel like I’ve been second and third a lot, so winning an individual gold is amazing."

With one individual gold under her belt, Peterson was unstoppable for the rest of the Games. She was part of the mixed relay team that won gold, defending her team's title from 2022, and then in the women's 20km standing race she won again. Just like that, Peterson had made the podium in every single cross-country race she entered in Italy, had two individual Paralympic titles, three gold and four total medals.

"I'm in shock. I mean, I don't know how that happened. I just felt good racing and I just kept going," Peterson said after the 20km. "When I was trying to evaluate how I was going to set up this week, I knew that this could be one of my favorite races, so I tried to make sure I had a good amount of energy so I could do well for this race."

For Peterson, the Milan Cortina Games taught her a lot about dealing with pressure and building a support system with her team and her loved ones, something she credits for her success at the Games.

"It's so fun to get to celebrate each other's successes. It helps because even if you don't really have the best day, someone else is having a great moment and so you can just have a fun celebration with them," she said. "Coming into this season, I tried to make some changes. I started training with a new team and new coaches, and I started to just look at things a bit differently. I realized that it's really important to have and to look at supportive people back home. And I have a lot of help from the coaches and everyone. Seeing how those things all tie together to make a successful season, that's what I want."

Another veteran on the U.S. para Nordic ski team, Gretsch entered Italy with seven Paralympic medals to her name. She will leave four medals richer, with a little history and a whole lot of love to show for it.

Gretsch was one of the first medal winners for Team USA in Italy, sharing the podium with Masters in the women's biathlon 7.5km sitting race on the first morning of competition. She followed up her silver medal with a bronze in the women's biathlon sitting sprint, making her two-for-two in her first events.

"I don’t think you can ask for anything better. It’s definitely a good start to the races and I can hopefully keep building on this," she said after the sprint. "It’s so much fun to have family here in the stands. It’s been a while since that’s happened, so it’s really cool to be able to hear them. It helps to push you through this stadium area, just hearing them cheering and knowing they’re watching."

With her biathlon prowess on full display, Gretsch netted her first and only gold medal of these Games in the biathlon sprint pursuit, becoming the first athlete to win the event since it was dropped after the 2010 Vancouver Games.

"It's just so exciting. I was a little bit shocked. I didn't really know until I saw the finish line, and saw that I was ahead that I had actually won the race. I thought that I was still in second. Definitely shock and I'm just really excited and proud of this result," Gretsch said afterward. "With biathlon there's always a shot, so just believing in that, that there's still a chance that I could be on top of the podium. Just having that self-belief this week."

Even for one of the top athletes in the world, there always is a chance of them surprising themselves with a performance. Gretsch admitted to feeling that way after earning bronze in the cross-country women's 10km sitting race (her only cross-country medal of the Games and first cross-country Paralympic title since 2018). 

"I didn’t think that I was going to be able to get a cross-country medal this week, so this was really exciting. It was extra fun that it was such a tight race. Everyone in cross-country has been skiing so fast. Even in the biathlon races, just looking at the ski times, I knew that it was going to be a really hard race in cross country," Gretsch said after. "It’s such a relief and it’s so exciting. It’s fun to be able to be around the whole team and celebrate with them too."