Para Alpine skiing at the 2026 Milan Cortina Paralympic Winter Games produced some incredible sporting excellence on the mountain at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. While Team USA did not dominate the event the way it has in some other winter disciplines, Americans still produced two of the most memorable moments in Cortina, both in super-G, through Patrick Halgren and Andrew Kurka. 

Halgren delivered the biggest surprise of the U.S. para Alpine effort when he won silver in the men’s standing super-G, the first Paralympic medal of his career. He entered the race without even a World Cup podium to his name and only modest results in Beijing, to then produce the race of his life finishing second behind Switzerland’s Robin Cuche. The result carried extra emotional weight as Halgren skied in memory of his late twin brother, Lucas Sven Halgren, whose encouragement helped steer him toward para Alpine skiing after the motorcycle crash that cost Halgren his left leg. 

Kurka followed with a bronze in the men’s sitting super-G, giving the United States its second and final para Alpine medal of these Games. For Kurka, racing at his third Paralympics and planning to retire after Milan Cortina, the podium completed a full Paralympic set of medals after gold and silver results earlier in his career.

Those two results, both in super-G, became the clearest U.S. throughline in a competition otherwise shaped by the sustained excellence of Europe’s established para Alpine powers. Austria’s Aigner family again was at the center of the story. Veronika Aigner, skiing with guide Erin Digruber, finished these Paralympics with five medals in five events, including four golds and one silver, making her the most decorated athlete of the Games. She opened the para Alpine program by winning the women’s downhill vision impaired title, then kept adding hardware until she closed her campaign with another gold in slalom. 

Her brother, Johannes Aigner, nearly was as omnipresent, leaving the Games with three golds and a bronze. The siblings already were one of para Alpine skiing’s defining families after Beijing 2022, when the Aigners won a combined nine medals. 

Germany’s Anna-Lena Forster added another imposing chapter to one of the sport’s most decorated careers. She had arrived in Cortina after a 2024-25 season that included three Crystal Globes, including the overall title, and a 2025-26 season in which she won 10 World Cup races. In Cortina, Forster won the women’s downhill sitting title, took silver in Alpine combined, and then captured giant slalom gold for an unexpected triumph in a discipline that traditionally had not been one of her strongest. 

The women’s sitting races also introduced a newer force in Audrey Pascual Seco, 21, of Spain. Seco snagged two gold medals, a silver and a bronze during her Paralympic debut, indicating a strong future for para Alpine skiing even amid the staying power of names like Forster. 

In the standing category, Sweden’s Ebba Aarsjoe again looked like one of the event’s defining athletes. Aarsjoe won three gold medals and a bronze in Cortina, building on the momentum she carried after winning the overall World Cup globe and an eighth world title in 2025. Her performances gave Sweden a consistent presence atop the women’s standings and added another layer to a Games where repeat champions largely held sway. 

The host Italians surpassed their previous best Winter Paralympic medal haul, and para Alpine skiing was central to that surge. Giacomo Bertagnolli led the way, winning gold in the men’s slalom vision impaired event on the final day to finish Milan Cortina with five medals from five races, topping his previous Games best. Chiara Mazzel won women’s vision impaired super-G gold in front of home fans after already taking downhill silver and combined silver.

The men’s sitting races offered another example of European depth. Kurka’s bronze came behind the Netherlands’ Jeroen Kampschreur, who won super-G gold, and finished the Games with a hat trick of gold medals after winning the men’s slalom sitting event and Alpine combined.

For Team USA, Milan Cortina also marked the end of an era as Laurie Stephens competed in the final Paralympic races of her career. A two-time Paralympic gold medalist and multiple-time world championship medalist, Stephens has been one of the most consistent figures in U.S. Para Alpine skiing for more than a decade.

A Paralympian since Vancouver 2010, she remained a steady presence across multiple Games, competing in both speed and technical events in the sitting classification. While she did not return to the podium in Cortina, her retirement closes the chapter on a career defined by longevity, versatility and leadership within the American program.

Para Alpine skiing in Cortina proved that the event remains one of the Paralympics’ richest blends of speed, risk and accumulated history. And with a young up-and-coming selection of U.S. athletes breaking into the top 15 across the events, it’s clear para Alpine will continue to be one of the most exciting sports to watch.