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≡ GAMES UPDATE ≡
Medal events at the 14th Paralympic Winter Games got underway on Saturday and the skiing Aigner family from Austria was once again at the front of the line for medals.
Veronika Aigner, 23, with guide Lilly Sammer, won the first medal event of the Games in the Alpine women’s Downhill in the vision-impaired category, clocking 1:22.55. Italy’s Chiara Mazzel – with Nicola Cotti Cottini – won silver at 1:23.03.
In the men’s Downhill for vision-impaired, younger brother Johannes Aigner (20) – with Nico Haberl – won in 1:16.08, over Canada’s Kalle Ericsson (with Sierra Smith) in 1:18.33.
Mazzel came back to win the women’s vision-impaired Super-G, with Veronika Aigner second, and Johannes won the men’s vision-impaired Super-G, with Ericsson third.
The U.S. also got its first gold of the Games – in fact a 1-2 finish – on Saturday from superstar Oksana Masters and Kendall Gretsch in the women’s Biathlon sitting Sprint, with Masters crossing in 21:21.3 (0 penalties) to 21:37.3 (0) for Gretsch. Said Masters, who won her 20th career Paralympic medal:
“Oh my gosh, my emotions are just pure shock. I did not expect this. All I was hoping was just to have a good time in the shooting range. I did not expect a podium finish to be honest, let alone a gold.
“I’m starting to realize that’s who I am; I have to have adversity going into the Games, although I don’t like it.
“The summer started out with surgery and then the last three weeks has been just absolutely a lot of time away from training, with infection and with a concussion, and battling, and just trusting the process and waiting. This is why this just means so much more, I did not expect this.”
Gretsch added:
“I’m really excited and I’m just happy to get the first race under my belt. It’s been so long since we’ve raced this season, so you just never know where you’re at. It’s always a good feeling to get the good (first) race done, and have it go well.
“I’m excited for the rest of the week and excited for our team. We’re going to have an awesome week. It’s a really good start. Hopefully I can keep building from here and maintain this. I’m really excited for the rest of the races.”
Both of them are going to have clear more space in their crowded Paralympic Games trophy rooms:
Gretsch: 9 total medals
● 6 Biathlon medals (2-2-2)
● 1 Cross Country Skiing medal (1-0-0)
● 2 Triathlon medals (1-1-0)
Masters: 20 total medals
● 6 Biathlon medals (3-3-0)
● 9 Cross County Skiing medals (3-4-2)
● 4 Cycling medals (4-0-0)
● 1 Rowing medal (0-0-1)
The full U.S. tally through Monday:
Alpine Skiing:
● Men/Super-G sitting ~ Bronze: Andrew Kurka
● Men/Super-G standing ~ Silver: Patrick Halgren
Biathlon:
● Women/Individual sitting ~ Bronze: Kendall Gretsch
● Women/Sprint sitting ~ Gold: Oksana Masters
● Women/Sprint sitting ~ Silver: Kendall Gretsch
Snowboard:
● Men/Snowcross SBLL1 ~ Noah Elliott
● Women/Snowcross SBLL2 ~ Silver: Kate Delson
In the Curling Mixed Doubles, Laura Dwyer and Stephen Emt went 4-3 in the round-robin and are into the semifinals against South Korea (4-3) on Tuesday.
The four-time defending champion U.S. Sled Hockey team is 2-0 so far, beating Italy by 14-1 and Germany by 13-0. China is also 2-0 in Group A and they will play on Tuesday.
Through three days of medal events, China leads with 17 (8-5-4) and Ukraine has 10 (3-2-5). The U.S. ranks third with seven, tied with Canada and Germany. The Games continue through Sunday.
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