Overview
- Varvara Voronchikhina and Aleksei Bugaev took bronze in the women’s and men’s downhill standing events, the first Games podiums with a Russian flag since 2014.
- Six Russian athletes and four from Belarus are competing under their national flags after IPC invitations limited entries to small delegations.
- Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland skipped the opening ceremony, and sections of the crowd booed the Russian delegation.
- Only about 45 of more than 600 athletes attended the ceremony as volunteers carried flags and many teams stayed at competition sites across Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo and Val di Fiemme.
- Iran’s sole athlete withdrew after the IPC said he could not travel safely, and Russia’s path to participation followed a 2025 IPC membership vote and a CAS ruling that cleared the way despite FIS restrictions.