Aussie crashes on same mountain as Lindsey Vonn, Oksana Masters wins gold
“I don’t want to drop to 10th place, I want to be first. That’s why I have to give it my all,” he said. “I’ll probably get smacked in the head [from mum]But I’m sure he’d calm down now that he’s seen me sitting here and chatting for a while.”
Team Australia’s Taryn Dickens competes with guide Lynn Maree Cullen in the Para Biathlon Women’s Sprint VI Final on day one of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics.Credit: Getty Images for IPC
Hanlon was among the first Australians to compete in the podium potential race on Saturday. Lauren Parker, Matt Brumby, Dave Miln and Taryn Dickens competed in the para biathlon sprints at nearby Tesero, finishing 13th, 26th, 28th and 14th in their respective races.
Dickens later said, “I’m not here to put socks on caterpillars, but I think that would be easier.”
In Parker’s race, American Oksana Masters won her 20th Paralympic medal and 10th gold medal, while teammate Kendall Gretsch took silver for her eighth Paralympic medal.
Aleksei Bugaev won Russia’s second medal at the Winter Paralympics. Credit: Getty Images
“I was pretty disappointed,” Parker said later. “They are great athletes and hopefully in four years I will be one of them.”
Also on Saturday, Russia won its first Paralympic medal since 2014. Two of the six athletes, Varvara Voronchikhina and flag bearer Aleksei Bugaev, won bronze medals in the alpine downhill standing categories.
Australia will have a better chance of reaching the podium in the para biathlon and para snowboarding races on Sunday when Ben Tudhope, Australia’s only medalist at the recent Winter Paralympics in Beijing, competes.
This tag went to Cortina as a guest of the Australian Paralympic Games.
