In the downhill

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Nico Haberl and Johannes Aigner (right)(Bild: GEPA)

After Veronika Aigner won gold in the downhill, her brother Johannes Aigner also raced to a gold medal at the Paralympics on Saturday.

Right at the official start of the Paralympics on Saturday morning in Italy, Austria won its first two medals and two titles. Alpine skier Veronika Aigner won with her new guide Lilly Sammer on the Tofana in Cortina in the visually impaired class, as did her brother Johannes Aigner with his guide Nico Haberl a little later. The Super-G is on the program for Monday, and the Paralympics will continue until March 15.

"I think we can sleep peacefully tonight, because that wasn't the case last night. We were lying in bed with a pulse rate of 130," said Veronika Aigner after her first Paralympic downhill victory. Silver went to the Italians Chiara Mazzel/Nicola Cotti Cottini (+0.48 seconds) and bronze to the Slovakians Alexandra Rexova/Sophia Polak (+4.90).

Veronika Aigner(Bild: GEPA)

  "We just had a feeling right from the start that this was our race. We put our foot down on the Tofana, the jumps were a lot longer. We took a big risk and it paid off," said Aigner, who is now a three-time Paralympic champion.

Sammer stepped in as a guide at short notice
"We just had a feeling right from the start that this was a race for us. We put our foot down on the Tofana, and the jumps went a lot further. We took a big risk and it paid off," said Aigner, who is now a triple Paralympic champion.

After her sister Elisabeth Aigner had to withdraw due to injury, 16-year-old Sammer stepped in at short notice as Veronika Aigner's guide for the speed races and the combined event. "I skied my very first downhill race during the first downhill training session. I was shaking like crazy. But then it got better and better. I couldn't sleep at all," reported the Tyrolean. "But today at the start, I was actually a little more relaxed. It was just really cool and such a great experience. I'm just grateful that Vroni took me on as her guide," said Sammer after her first Paralympic victory.

Favorite Aigner did not disappoint
Johannes Aigner prevailed ahead of Canadians Kalle Eriksson/Sierra Smith (+2.25 seconds) and Italians Giacomo Bertagnolli/Andrea Ravelli (+2.56) and lived up to his role as favorite with Haberl. There were four dropouts among the eleven participants. "It was a good race. The pressure is off now because we already have a medal. Now we can go into the next competitions without any stress," said 20-year-old Aigner about his sixth Paralympic medal overall, his third gold.

Johannes Aigner (back) with guide Haberl(Bild: GEPA)

  For his guide Haberl, it is his first medal. "Precisely because it is my first Paralympics, it is simply incredible. It's so cool and feels really good to be able to experience this with Johannes. I am also really proud of him for skiing down the mountain so fast with me today," said the 25-year-old. In any case, nothing stands in the way of a small sibling party. "We'll definitely stop by the Austria House. We're glad that tomorrow is a day off," smiled Johannes Aigner.

No happy ending for Salcher's last downhill
There was no medal for Austria in the standing class. Markus Salcher had to settle for eighth place in his last downhill race of his career. "I tried all my tricks, but I couldn't get into my stride. Nevertheless, I have to say that skiing down here and having so many people here is a nice downhill finale for me," said the seven-time Paralympic medalist from Carinthia. Nico Pajantschitsch finished ninth. The victory went to Switzerland's Robin Cuche, the nephew of former ski star Didier Cuche.

Markus Salcher came away empty-handed.(Bild: GEPA)

Meanwhile, Russia celebrated two medals in the standing events in its controversial comeback as a full member at the Para Games in Cortina: Alexei Bugayev finished third, as did Varvara Vorontsikhina.