CORTINA, Italy— Fresh snow and tightly set gates set the stage for women’s slalom racing Saturday at the Milano Cortina Paralympic Games, where athletes across three classifications completed two technical runs on the Olympia delle Tofane course.

Slalom, the most technical discipline in alpine skiing, requires rapid direction changes and precise timing through each gate. Final standings were determined by the combined time from two runs, with the second run often reshuffling positions as racers pushed for faster lines through the final gates.

The steep middle pitch on the Tofane slope forced quick edge changes before racers accelerated into the final gate sequence near the finish. Race crews salted the course ahead of the runs to preserve the surface as temperatures hovered near freezing and clouds moved across the mountain.

“They did a really good job salting, so the surface was pretty good,” Laurie Stephens said. “It was more about whether the clouds and fog stayed over the course.”

Americans competed across the vision impaired, standing, and sitting classifications as the women’s slalom field returned for the decisive second run.

Vision Impaired

Meg Gustafson delivered the top American finish in the women’s vision impaired race, placing sixth after completing both runs.

Gustafson maintained rhythm through the upper sections of the course and carried speed through the middle portion of both runs before the course tightened through the final pitch. Clean skiing through the closing gates secured her place inside the top half of the field.

Austria took the top two positions, with Veronika Aigner winning gold alongside guide Eric Digruber and teammate Elina Stary taking silver with guide Stefan Winter. Slovakia’s Alexandra Rexova and guide Matus Duris claimed bronze.

Standing

Kelsey O’Driscoll produced the top American finish in the standing classification, placing ninth after completing both runs on the demanding slalom course.

O’Driscoll moved up the standings with a cleaner second run.

“It was a long haul, but it was so fun,” O’Driscoll said. “I’m at the Paralympics doing something I love. I haven’t gotten to ski slalom all season because I had broken ribs, so this was my first and last slalom race of the season.”

Allie Johnson also completed both runs and finished 13th overall after navigating the steep Cortina slope. Audrey Crowley was disqualified in the first run and did not advance.

Varvara Voronchikhina of the Russian Federation captured the gold medal in the standing event. China’s Zhu Wenjing finished second and Canada’s Michaela Gosselin earned bronze.

Sitting

Anna Soens led the American performances in the sitting classification, finishing eighth after completing both runs in a deep field.

Soens sat eighth after the opening run and returned for the final run looking to hold position. She carried speed through the early gates before losing time in the lower section of the course.

“It definitely salted a lot firmer than I was expecting,” Soens said. “Without being able to fully inspect the course we were kind of inspecting from the side, so it was hard to get a sense of how it would run. I’m glad I finished.”

Laurie Stephens finished 12th after completing both runs, while Hailey Griffin placed 14th in the final standings. Saylor O’Brien recorded a DNF in the first run and did not advance.

China’s Zhang Wenjing won the gold medal in the sitting race, followed by Finland’s Nette Kiviranta in second and Spain’s Audrey Pascual Seco in third.

The race marked the final women’s event of the Paralympic alpine program in Cortina.

Up Next

The Paralympic alpine schedule concludes Sunday with the men’s slalom, the final race of the Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre.