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Natalie Wilkie of Canada continued her dominant run at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, securing her second biathlon gold medal in the women’s standing sprint pursuit on Friday. The 25-year-old has now claimed four medals in as many events at the Games, solidifying her position as a leading force in Para Nordic skiing.
Wilkie finished the race in a commanding 12 minutes and 18 seconds, hitting all 10 targets with her air rifle across two shooting stages in Val di Fiemme. Her performance put her 17.7 seconds ahead of Ukraine’s Iryna Bui, who took silver, even as Oleksandra Kononova of Ukraine rounded out the podium with a bronze medal in 12:49.
After winning a medal of every colour, Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., won gold in the Para biathlon women’s sprint pursuit standing final at Milano Cortina 2026.
Brittany Hudak of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, finished ninth with a time of 13:51.3.
Wilkie, who qualified in third place, admitted to feeling the pressure before the final. “This was the race I was most unsure about actually, just because in the sprint pursuit things can change, and so quickly too,” she said. “I was the fourth starter out [in the final]; I came third in the qualifier today with 10 seconds to create up. Watching my competitors reach out of the start area, I knew that it was going to be a tough race this afternoon.”
Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., captured a fourth medal from the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games, taking gold in the Para biathlon women’s sprint pursuit standing final Friday.
The victory is particularly significant for Wilkie, as she previously struggled with the sprint pursuit format. “I’ve struggled so much with this race format,” Wilkie explained. “When it was introduced in 2023 I absolutely hated it, and for the last couple of years I’ve tried to avoid it. Simply because I’m not a fast shooter and this race doesn’t favour slow shooters like me.”
She credits focused training with turning things around. “Over the last two years my coach forced me to start doing more sprint pursuits just so that I could obtain better at them, and it’s definitely paid off because on a day like today I was able to keep my focus and shoot clean and win the gold medal.”
Watch as Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., receives her fourth medal from the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games, after winning gold in the Para biathlon women’s sprint pursuit standing final.
Wilkie, who carried the Canadian flag at the opening ceremony, now boasts 11 Paralympic medals in her career. She previously won silver in the sprint biathlon on March 9, gold in the individual biathlon on March 10, and bronze in Tuesday’s cross-country sprint classic. Canada has now collected 11 medals through seven days of competition in Italy, including three silver and six bronze. The full medal table is available here.
The Canadian nordic skiing team has been a standout performer, accounting for seven of the nation’s medals – four in biathlon and three in cross-country.
Continuing a tradition, Wilkie sported gold glitter on her face for Friday’s biathlon finale, a practice she began after predicting her silver medal with silver glitter. “I put it on this morning because I was really hoping for the gold. I knew it was going to be a special win if I got it,” Wilkie said. “But the glitter, whatever the colour, is really just there to remind me to have fun and find joy in the process, and bring out the little kid in me.”
“Little Natalie would be so amazed to see me at the Paralympics today, winning the gold medal in an event that I never thought I would.”
Wilkie is scheduled to compete in the 20km interval start free cross-country race on Sunday. She is also eligible for the 4×2.5km cross-country relays on Saturday, giving her the opportunity to tie Lana Spreeman as Canada’s most decorated female Winter Paralympian with 13 medals.
In other results, Mark Arendz of Hartsville, Prince Edward Island, placed fourth in the men’s standing sprint pursuit, finishing just 4.5 seconds behind Germany’s Marco Maier, who took bronze. China’s Cai Jaiyun secured his third gold medal of the Games in a photo finish, edging Ukraine’s Grygorii Vovchynskyi by 0.2 seconds with a time of 10:33.4.
Derek Zaplotinsky of Smoky Lake, Alberta, finished 20th in the men’s sitting sprint pursuit.
