Meet Varvara Voronchikhina, GOLD medalist at the 2026 Winter Paralympics
The Russian alpine skier has won two medals at the Games in Italy.
"I can't believe our anthem will be performed today. I've got goosebumps!" said the athlete emotionally after her gold medal run. She couldn't hold back tears during the awards ceremony, either.
For the first time since the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russian Paralympians are again competing under the national flag, in tracksuits with national symbols and to the sounds of the national anthem. And Voronchikhina brought the Russian team its first gold medal since 2014. She dedicated her victory to her grandfather, who recently passed away and couldn't wait to see her win.
On March 9, the Russian alpine skier finished first in one of the most challenging disciplines, the super-G. She finished with a time of 1 minute and 15.6 seconds. Earlier, she had already won bronze in the downhill event.
Voronchikhina was born in 2002 in the Siberian city of Baikalsk. Part of her left arm is missing from birth, but she still decided to pick up skiing at the age of six. And, according to her parents, the girl had no problems or complexes; she grew up a leader, getting along well with all her peers.
Varvara studied at a sports school in her native Baikalsk and then at the College of Physical Culture and Sports in Moscow. At the Paralympics, she is competing in the standing category, with one ski pole.
Varvara's first major sports success came in 2018. She won a World Cup stage in Slovenia in the giant slalom.
She wanted to compete at the 2018 Paralympics, as well, but didn't meet the age requirement – at that time, Russian athletes competed under a neutral flag and were not allowed to participate in the following 2022 Games at all.
Then, in 2022, Varvara won two gold and four silver medals at the World Championship in Lillehammer, Norway.
Other gold medals at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games were won by cross country skiers Anastasia Bagiyan and Ivan Golubkov.
