After making history at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics with winning its first medal in the history of the competition, with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, Brazil is now also looking for its first podium at the Paralympic Games that begin this week in Italy.
With a record eight athletes competing on snow on Italian soil, two more than in Beijing-2022, the Brazilian delegation comes from a Paralympic cycle with important achievements and its biggest medal hopes are the world cross-country skiing champions, Cristian Ribera and Aline Rocha.
This will be Brazil’s fourth participation in the Paralympic Winter Games, which began in Sochi-2014, with two athletes.
“Our expectation for historic results is also very high in the Paralympics. The chance is real. I would say that, if there is no medal, I would be a little surprised, but not disappointed, because we know that anything can happen during a competition”, he told Sheet Anders Pettersson, president of CBDN (Brazilian Snow Sports Confederation) and head of Brazil’s mission at the Milan-Cortina Games.
“If a medal comes, it will probably be from Cristian Ribera or Aline Rocha”, added the director.
Born in Cerejeiras, in Rondônia, and raised in Jundiaí, in the interior of São Paulo, Cristian Ribera, just 23 years old, is already making his third Paralympic appearance.
In his debut, in PyeongChang-2018, in South Korea, when he was just 15 years old, Ribera took sixth place in the 15 km cross-country skiing event, to this day Brazil’s best result in the history of the Winter Games.
Since then, he has established himself as one of the main names in the sport. He was the first Brazilian to win the Globo de Cristal in Paralympic cross-country skiing, becoming overall champion of the 2024/2025 season.
At the beginning of the season, he maintained his positive momentum on the snow slopes and won two gold medals in the 1 km and 10 km events at the World Cup stage in Finsterau, Germany, in January.
“In Beijing-2022 [quando terminou na oitava colocação na prova de 20 km]I wasn’t 100%. I trained well, but I had physical problems in the final stretch. This time I had a good cycle, I managed to train and compete well and I’m quite confident”, said Ribera.
“We always work hard to be among the best, and the medals reflect that. I’m very happy, but I also know that it’s a very big challenge to represent Brazil at the Games. It’s going to be the most important moment of my life and I’m going to go all out to win a medal for Brazil,” he said.
Brother of Eduarda Ribera, who competed in the Winter Games in cross-country skiing, the skier from Rondônia was born with arthrogryposis, a congenital disease that affects the joints located at the extremities of the body. Throughout his life, he underwent 21 leg surgeries.
In Milan-Cortina, Ribera competes in the cross-country skiing competitions in the classic sprint category, on Tuesday (10), in the 10 km, on Wednesday (11), and in the 20 km, on the 15th.
Aline Rocha, 34, is from Pinhão, Paraná, and was the first Brazilian woman to compete in the Paralympic Winter Games, in PyeongChang-2018. In Beijing 2022, he took seventh place in the 15 km cross-country skiing race.
In 2023, she became the first Brazilian skier to become world champion, with gold in the sprint event at the World Cross-Country Skiing Championship held in Ostersnd, Sweden. On that occasion, he also took bronze in the 10 km and 18 km races.
Last year, he took silver in the World Cup held in Toblach, Italy, in the 10 km race.
“It’s a great joy to participate in another edition of the Paralympic Games. I’ve been in the sport for 15 years and I’m still evolving, so I believe I’ll have my best performance in Milan-Cortina”, said Aline.
“Both in Pyeongchang-2018 and Beijing-2022, the biggest challenge was the high temperatures and melting snow. We were not prepared for this condition. Now, in 2026, we already have more experience with all types of snow and temperatures, and this will be fundamental for our performance,” she added.
At the Winter Games in Italy, the woman from Paraná — who became paraplegic after suffering a car accident at the age of 15 — begins her participation in the 7.5 km biathlon race, on Saturday (7). She still competes in the cross-country ski sprint, on the 10th, and in the 10 km and 20 km distances, on the 11th and 15th.
Aline Rocha and Cristian Ribera were chosen by the CPB (Brazilian Paralympic Committee) to be Brazil’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony this Friday (6), starting at 4pm (Brasília time), in Verona.
The two athletes, however, are already located in Predazzo, in northern Italy, where their races will take place, approximately 200 km away, and will participate remotely.
The opening ceremony will be marked by boycotts from countries such as Ukraine and the Czech Republic, as a form of protest over the organizers’ authorization for athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the Paralympic Games representing their nations, with the right to raise the flag and anthem on the podium, and not as neutral athletes as was the case at the Winter Olympics.
The Brazilian delegation also has three Winter Games debutants: Elena Sena and Wellington da Silva, who will compete in the cross-country skiing and biathlon events, and Vitória Machado, from snowboarding.
Guilherme Rocha and Robelson Lula, from cross-country skiing and bialto, and André Barbieri, from snowboarding, have already participated in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games, and complete the Brazilian delegation.
The Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games will be held from March 6th to 15th and bring together 665 athletes from 53 countries. SporTV broadcasts the main events.
Check out the schedule of Brazilians at the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games (Brasília time)
7.mar (Saturday)
6am – Biathlon (7.5km sprint – Finals sitting)
Aline Rocha, Elena Sena, Guilherme Rocha and Robelson Lula
7h – Snowboard Cross (qualifiers)
André Barbieri
8.Mar (Sunday)
6h – Biathlon (12.5km Individual – Seated Finals)
Elena Sena, Guilherme Rocha and Robelson Lula
March 10 (Tuesday)
5:45 am – Cross-country skiing (Sprint Classic – qualifier)
Aline Rocha, Cristian Ribera, Elena Sena, Guilherme Rocha, Robelson Lula and Wellington da Silva
March 11 (Wednesday)
5:45 am – Cross-country skiing (10km Interval Start Classic – Sitting and standing finals)
Aline Rocha, Cristian Ribera, Elena Sena, Guilherme Rocha, Robelson Lula and Wellington da Silva
March 13 (Friday)
6am – Biathlon (Sprint Pursuit – qualifier)
Elena Sena, Guilherme Rocha and Robelson Lula
14th March (Saturday)
6h – Cross-country skiing (Finals – Mixed relay 4 x 2.5 km)
6h e 7h55 – Snowboard (Banked Slalom – Finais)
André Barbieri and Vitória Machado
15.Mar (Sunday)
5h 6h20 – Cross-country skiing (20km Interval Start Free – Sitting and standing finals)
Aline Rocha, Cristian Ribera, Elena Sena, Guilherme Rocha, Robelson Lula and Wellington da Silva
