The Aigners: A family of skiers
The Aigner siblings – Irmgard, Elisabeth, Veronika, Johannes and Barbara – grew up in Gloggnitz, a small town one hour’s drive from Vienna, and learned to ski at a young age.
Their parents, Petra and Christian, are passionate about Alpine skiing and Gloggnitz’s proximity to Mount Rax and Mount Schneeberg, both prominent ski areas, made the choice of sport almost inevitable.
Irmgard and Elisabeth were the first to start skiing, with Veronika following suit, starting at two years old.
While she was born with cataracts, similar to her mother, Veronika first skied without a guide. It was only after her sight deteriorated and she could no longer spot the gates that she turned to her sisters for help. Irmgard was her initial guide, with Elisabeth taking over later.
The youngest of the siblings, 20-year-old Johannes and Barbara, soon joined them on the slopes too.
Beijing 2022 was a Paralympic debut for all four and they lost no time raking in the hardware. Johannes, skiing with guide Matteo Fleishmann, won gold in downhill on the opening day of competition. He went on to take one more gold in giant slalom and finish on the podium in the three other races.
Veronika and Elisbeth swept gold in the technical events, with sister Barbara and her guide Klara Sykora joining them on the podium with a silver and bronze.
The Aigner family name was splashed across the headlines as people back home and around the world marvelled at their Paralympic feats, but the champion siblings have stayed humble despite the newfound fame.
“It’s a normal day when we are in Austria and we are a normal family,” Johannes told Olympics.com. “A little bit more famous but all in all it’s the same as before.”
Barbara has since retired from competitive Para alpine skiing but Veronika and Johannes are still very much in the game.
Both won overall Crystal Globes this season – the fifth consecutive victory for Johannes – and are medal favourites in all five disciplines at Milano Cortina 2026.
“A cold head,” Johannes said about the key to winning medals in all of their events. “We know what we can do and when we bring that on the slope, then we’ll be good.”