Eriksson, Oatway, Wilkie earn Canada’s first three medals of Paralympic Games

By Canadian Press on March 7, 2026.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO — Kalle Eriksson, alongside guide Sierra Smith, got the ball rolling for Canada with its first of three medals at the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games on Saturday.

Eriksson, a para alpine skier from Kimberley, B.C., grabbed silver in the men’s visually impaired downhill event in his Paralympic debut.

He clocked in a time of one minute 18.33 seconds, finishing behind Austria’s Johannes Aigner (1:16.08) and narrowly ahead of Italy’s Giacomo Bertagnolli (1:18.64) on the podium.

Calgary’s Kurt Oatway made it two medals for Canada when he earned bronze in the men’s downhill sitting ski event.

The 42-year-old narrowly missed silver, finishing the race in 1:19.42. Niels de Langen of the Netherlands placed second in 1:19.24. Norway’s Jesper Pederson was victorious in 1:18.14.

Para nordic star Natalie Wilkie, of Salmon Arm, B.C., collected her eighth medal at her third Paralympics with a silver in the women’s standing sprint biathlon event.

Wilkie had a time of 18:46.4 over the 7.5-kilometre course and went without a shooting penalty in her first career biathlon medal at the Games.

Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova (18:41.5) and Liudmyla Liashenko (19:13.9) won gold and bronze, respectively.