March 13, 2026 - (Cortina, Italy) Natalie Wilkie claimed both hers and Canada’s second gold medal of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games on Friday, bringing the nation’s medal total to 11. The Canadian Paralympic Team is also now assured of a medal in wheelchair curling and Para ice hockey following semifinal victories.

Medal Won on March 13
Gold – Natalie Wilkie, Para biathlon, women’s standing sprint pursuit

Overall Medal Total
Gold – 2 Silver – 3 Bronze – 6 Total – 11

Results Summary
Para Nordic Skiing – Para Biathlon Natalie Wilkie is golden once again, claiming first in the women’s standing Para biathlon sprint pursuit. After qualifying with the third-best time, Wilkie skied fast and shot cleanly while her closest opponents missed targets. She crossed the finish line in 12:18.0, 17.7 seconds ahead of silver medallist Iryna Bui of Ukraine.

“I was really stressed because so much can change in the sprint pursuit,” said Wilkie. “This used to be my most-hated race format, when it first came out a few years ago, I avoided it at all costs. And I accidently mentioned to my coach that I hated this race format and then he made me do every race after that. His idea was to turn my weakness into my strength. And now on top of the podium, I hate to admit it, but it worked.”

Wilkie, who has been wearing glitter on her face for each race, now has four medals at Milano Cortina 2026 – two gold, one silver, and one bronze – to bring her career Paralympic total to 11 podiums.

“The glitter reminds me that I’m here to have fun, and it’s not actually that serious, we’re just going out and racing,” she said. “I’ve been changing colours, and it’s funny but both times I’ve put on gold glitter I’ve won the race. I knew heading into this race that I had a good chance and I just really wanted to manifest. This glitter today was just reminding me that if everything comes together, you can do it, and it did.”

Mark Arendz, with two medals here in Italy, just missed the podium finishing fourth in the men’s standing category. He was 4.5 seconds behind bronze medallist Marco Maier of Germany. Other Canadian results saw Brittany Hudak ninth in the women’s standing and Derek Zaplotinsky 20th in the men’s sitting.

Wheelchair Curling Canada is through to the wheelchair curling gold-medal game after a thrilling, nail-biting comeback victory over South Korea in the semifinals. Down 7-5 heading into the final end, the team set themselves up well before it went down to Canada’s very last shot. Skip Mark Ideson handled the pressure to secure three points for his team and ultimately the 8-7 triumph.

The red-and-white squad – also featuring vice-skip/third Jon Thurston, second Ina Forrest, and lead Collinda Joseph – remains undefeated at the Games so far and will now take on China in Saturday’s final. Bronze medallists at the last two Paralympic Winter Games, the Canadians are looking for their first gold since 2014.

“It’s an incredible feeling to be in a gold-medal game, and to have the win happen the way that it did was how our week has gone,” said Joseph. “This has been a theme of the week. It just goes to show you our tenacity and our resilience in that last end.”

“Being in the gold-medal game and having a guaranteed medal is exactly where we wanted to be at the end of this week, and so very proud of that,” said Forrest.

Para Ice Hockey Canada defeated China 4-2 in a close battle to move into the Para ice hockey final. Tied 2-2 heading into the third period, Dominic Cozzolino scored what would become the game-winning goal before Liam Hickey added another to give Canada some breathing room. Tyler McGregor opened the scoring for the team, with two goals in the first period.

The Canadian crew will now face the U.S. for gold for the third straight Games on Sunday. Silver medallists in 2018 and 2022, Canada is looking for its first Para ice hockey gold since 2006 – the last time the Games were held in Italy.

“It was kind of a battle with ourselves,” said defenceman Rob Armstrong. “We had to find a way to get through the adversity and I think we proved in that third period – we had some guys step up when we needed to. I think championships are made out of adversity. This is a great steppingstone going into the gold medal game.”

“It was a great opportunity to show us what we need to improve on, what we need to work on against a fast, skilled team like China and will be the U.S,” Armstrong added. “We’re feeling confident though. We know we wanted to be here, and this is what we’ve been working towards, and now we just have to execute.”

Para Alpine Skiing Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith just missed another podium at the Games, finishing fourth in the men’s visually impaired giant slalom. They were 0.12 seconds behind bronze medallists Michal Golas and guide Kacper Walas of Poland. The duo has a silver, bronze, and two fourth places so far with one race remaining.

In the men’s sitting, Brian Rowland was 17th while downhill bronze medallist Kurt Oatway did not finish. Alexis Guimond also did not finish in the men’s standing.

Para Snowboard Tyler Turner, bronze medallist in the snowboard cross earlier in the week, posted Canada’s best finish in the banked slalom as Para snowboard closed out its Games competition. Turner was sixth in the men’s SB-LL1 category with teammate Chase Nicklin 11th. The field from third place to seventh were all within 0.65 seconds of each other.

Philippe Nadreau and Alex Massie were ninth and 10th in the men’s SB-LL2 event while Sandine Hamel was 11th in the women’s SB-LL2.

For the complete results on Friday March 13 visit here.