Natalie Wilkie headlines Day 1 of Para biathlon competition with silver medal

Natalie Wilkie is one of the most successful Para nordic skiers in the world right now, and she wasted no time adding more hardware to her collection on Saturday.

Wilkie opened her 2026 Paralympic Winter Games with a silver medal in the women’s standing Para biathlon, for her eighth career Paralympic medal. Saskatchewan native Brittany Hudak put up a strong showing in the race as well, finishing in sixth behind Wilkie.

Competing in her third Paralympic Winter Games, Wilkie was chosen this year as one of Team Canada’s flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony. Speaking after her race, she was thrilled with how she performed on Day 1.

“This is something I’ve been dreaming of leading up to the Paralympics, winning a medal in my first race,” Wilkie told the CPC. “This is a huge improvement from my last start in Beijing where I think I came like 15th, getting the silver medal today is a huge improvement and I’m really, really happy with that.”

Her roaring start wasn’t the only difference from the last Games. At the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, athletes competed in empty stadiums. Now with family and friends back in the stands, Wilkie is feeling the love right there with her.

“They were so loud,” Wilkie said, of the crowd on Saturday. “Even in warm-up the crowd was going nuts and it was awesome, because we didn’t get that in Beijing. And of course in the race, I could hear the crowd cheering all around the course, so that was a really cool experience.”

It was a busy day for Canadians overall in Para biathlon, with eight athletes competing in six different events. The day started bright and early with Christina Picton finishing 10th in the women’s sitting. Then followed Collin Cameron and Derek Zaplotinsky in the men’s sitting, finishing 11th and 14th, respectively. 12-time Paralympic medallist Mark Arendz competed in the men’s standing, but just missed adding another medal to his collection, finishing in fifth. Para nordic competition wrapped for the day with Madison Mullin making her Paralympic Games debut alongside guide Brooke Ailey, skiing to a 10th-place finish in the women’s visually impaired classification.

Para biathlon continues on Sunday with seven athletes back in action.