Italy Eyes Historic Paralympic Record as De Silvestro Powers to Silver in Cortina

The Italian Paralympic Alpine Skiing team has secured its 9th medal at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics, surpassing the Beijing 2022 total and positioning itself within striking distance of the nation's historic record of 13 medals set at Lillehammer 1994. On Tuesday, René De Silvestro claimed silver in the men's combined sitting event on the Olympia delle Tofane slope, delivering a performance that both validated his championship pedigree and exorcised recent frustration.

Why This Matters

• Italy's Paralympic surge: The nation has already exceeded its Beijing 2022 tally with 3 golds, 5 silvers, and 1 bronze—eight from Alpine skiing, plus one from para snowboard.

• Record in sight: With multiple competition days remaining, the Lillehammer 1994 benchmark of 13 medals is increasingly realistic.

• De Silvestro's redemption: After finishing 4th twice earlier in these Games, the silver marks his second medal in these Paralympics.

• Slalom showdown ahead: The San Vito di Cadore native eyes Sunday's individual slalom as his prime medal opportunity.

A Silver Lining After Double Disappointment

De Silvestro's path to the podium was marked by near-misses that would have broken lesser competitors. The 37-year-old from San Vito di Cadore, Belluno, entered Tuesday's combined event carrying the weight of two 4th-place finishes—a position that denies Paralympic glory by the narrowest margin. In Paralympic skiing, where hundredths of seconds separate triumph from anonymity, finishing just off the podium twice is a psychological gauntlet.

"This medal has given me great peace of mind, because I had those two 4th places," De Silvestro said after the race. "I had incredible anger inside me, and today I managed to let it out. I'm happy."

The combined event—a format that merges downhill and slalom runs into a single aggregate time—allowed De Silvestro to showcase the technical precision that has defined his career. His second slalom run proved decisive: he posted the fastest time among all competitors on the technical gates, recovering one position from the opening downhill phase and finishing a mere 11 hundredths of a second behind gold medalist Jeroen Kampschreur of the Netherlands. Fellow Dutchman Niels de Langen took bronze.

Italy's Paralympic Momentum Builds

The Italian delegation arrived at Milano Cortina 2026 with its largest-ever winter Paralympic roster: 42 athletes and 4 guides competing across all six disciplines on the program for the first time in the nation's Paralympic history. That breadth has translated into podium depth, particularly in Alpine skiing, where the Italian squad is leveraging home advantage to extraordinary effect.

Italy currently sits 4th in the overall medal standings, trailing China (9 golds, 6 silvers, 8 bronzes), Austria (4-1-3), and the United States (3-5-2), while edging Ukraine (3-2-5). The Alpine skiing contingent has been the engine of Italian success, with standout performances from Giacomo Bertagnolli (gold in combined VI, silver in super-G, bronze in downhill) and Chiara Mazzel (gold in super-G VI, two silvers), both racing in the visually impaired category with their respective guides Andrea Ravelli and Nicola Cotti Cottini.

Emanuel Perathoner added a gold in para snowboard cross SB-LL2, while Federico Pelizzari secured silver in the men's combined standing event alongside De Silvestro's medal.

The Road to Lillehammer's Record

The Lillehammer 1994 benchmark of 13 medals remains Italy's high-water mark in Winter Paralympics history, achieved with 7 silvers and 6 bronzes (notably, no golds). Bruno Oberhammer alone accounted for four silver medals in Alpine skiing that year. Three decades later, Italy has already matched two-thirds of that total with days of competition still ahead, and the quality of the current haul—three golds versus none in 1994—suggests a more dominant performance.

De Silvestro's silver brings Italy to 9 medals, just four short of the record. Upcoming events include the men's sitting giant slalom—a discipline De Silvestro explicitly identified as a target—and Sunday's individual slalom, where his combined performance signals serious medal potential.

"I'm really very satisfied with my second slalom run," De Silvestro said. "We're aiming for the giant slalom, and especially the slalom on Sunday, where I can have my say. I can really go fast."

De Silvestro's Slalom Pedigree

De Silvestro enters Sunday's slalom with a proven track record in the discipline. He won silver in giant slalom and bronze in slalom at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics, demonstrating his versatility across slalom disciplines. His 2025-2026 World Cup season featured podium finishes in both super-G and slalom, underscoring his current form and readiness.

The combined event's slalom leg served as a public dress rehearsal, and De Silvestro delivered: his time eclipsed all rivals on the technical course, a performance that speaks to both physical readiness and mental clarity after the earlier setbacks. Competing on home snow in Cortina d'Ampezzo—a resort town that has hosted Olympic and World Cup skiing for generations—adds an emotional charge. De Silvestro, who lives just 30 km away in San Vito di Cadore, has repeatedly cited the home-crowd energy as a motivating force.

What This Means for Italian Sports Enthusiasts

For Italian sports fans, the Milano Cortina Paralympics represent more than a medal count; they are a validation of sustained investment in adaptive sports infrastructure and athlete development. The Italian Paralympic Committee's expanded roster and multi-discipline participation reflect a strategic commitment that is now yielding tangible returns on the global stage.

The proximity to the Lillehammer record creates a compelling narrative for the remainder of the Games: every podium finish from here forward becomes a step toward history. De Silvestro's journey—from frustration to redemption, with more opportunities ahead—embodies the broader team's trajectory.

Sunday's slalom will test whether De Silvestro can convert anger into gold. Given his combined performance and his career resume in the discipline, he enters as a legitimate favorite. The Olympia delle Tofane slope, already the stage for nine Italian medals, may yet host another chapter in Italy's most successful Winter Paralympics to date.