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Canada’s Natalie Wilkie captured her second biathlon gold of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Friday, winning the women’s standing sprint pursuit for her fourth medal in as many events.
The Salmon Arm, B.C., native dominated the race with a time of 12 minutes 18 seconds after hitting all 10 targets with her air rifle across two shooting stages in Val di Fiemme.
Wilkie finished 17.7 seconds ahead of Ukrainian silver medallist Iryna Bui. Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova took bronze in 12:49.
Brittany Hudak of Prince Albert, Sask., finished ninth in 13:51.3.
WATCH | Wilkie wins gold in sprint pursuit:
Canada’s Natalie Wilkie wins 2nd Para biathlon gold and 4th medal at Milano-Cortina Paralympics
After winning a medal of every colour, Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., won gold in the Para biathlon women’s sprint pursuit standing final at Milano Cortina 2026.
The 25-year-old Wilkie, one of Canada’s flag-bearers at the opening ceremony, is now an 11-time Paralympic medallist. She took silver in the sprint biathlon last Saturday before winning the individual biathlon on Sunday and adding bronze in Tuesday’s cross-country sprint classic.
Wilkie’s latest medal pushes Canada within one of 200 total medals won at the Winter Paralympics.
Canada has 11 medals through seven days of competition in Italy — two gold, three silver, six bronze. The full medal table is available here.
Canada’s nordic skiing team has now accounted for seven medals, with four in biathlon and three in cross-country.
WATCH | Wilkie receives sprint pursuit gold medal:
Canada’s Natalie Wilkie collects her 2nd gold medal at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics
Watch as Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., receives her fourth medal from the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games, after winning gold in the Para biathlon women’s sprint pursuit standing final.
Wilkie, a three-time Paralympian, has matched her career-high medal total from the 2022 Beijing Games and still has at least one event left.
Wilkie is scheduled to compete in the 20-kilometre interval start free cross-country race on Sunday, but she is also eligible for the 4×2.5km cross-country relays on Saturday — making it possible for her to tie late alpine legend Lana Spreeman as Canada’s most decorated female Winter Paralympian with 13 medals.
Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I., placed fourth in the men’s standing sprint pursuit later Friday after finishing 4.5 seconds behind bronze medallist Marco Maier of Germany.
China’s Cai Jaiyun captured his third gold of these Games in a photo finish, edging Grygorii Vovchynskyi of Ukraine by 0.2 seconds with a time of 10:33.4.
Arendz, a 14-time Paralympic medallist, was aiming for his third medal in Italy after earning silver in the individual biathlon last Sunday and bronze in the 10km cross-country race on Wednesday.
Smoky Lake, Alta.’s Derek Zaplotinsky was 20th in the men’s sitting sprint pursuit.