Ukraine wins first 6 medals at Winter Paralympics, taking early lead
Ukrainian athletes won six medals on March 7, the first day of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games in Italy.
With three gold, two bronze, and one silver medal, Ukraine leads the overall medal standings.
Taras Rad secured the gold in the men's sprint sitting, and Oleksandra Kononova took gold in the women's sprint standing.
Ukraine triumphed in the men's 7.5 km sprint of para biathlon's vision-impaired division, with Oleksandr Kazik winning gold, Yaroslav Reshetynskyi securing silver, and Anatolii Kovalevskyi taking bronze.
Sprinter Liudmyla Liashenko also won a bronze medal in women's sprint standing.
The 2026 Paralympics run from March 6 to 15.
Days before the Games, Ukraine's National Paralympic Committee President Valerii Sushkevych said that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) barred Ukraine's Paralympic team from wearing their ceremonial uniform with a map of Ukraine, calling it political.
These Paralympics are the first since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 in which Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to participate under their own flags.
IPC President Andrew Parsons said on March 6 that injured Russian soldiers who participated in the war against Ukraine will be allowed to compete in the future.
