Ukrainian biathlete Taras Rad won gold medal at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy. This is the first award for the Ukrainian team at these competitions.
The 26-year-old athlete won the 7.5 km parabiathlon sprint in the sitting class among athletes with musculoskeletal disorders. Rad held the race with flawless shooting and overtook Chinese biathletes Liu Mentao and Liu Jixu, who took second and third places. Another Ukrainian, Vasyl Kravchuk, finished fourth.
In total, five Ukrainian representatives took part in the race, and all of them managed to make it to the top 15.
This is the fifth Paralympic medal in Taras Rad’s career. He previously won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, as well as two silver and one bronze medal at the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing.
The athlete’s story is not easy: at the age of 14, he suffered a serious leg injury. Due to complications after improper treatment and infection, the limb had to be amputated. However, in 2014, Rad returned to sports and later achieved significant results in biathlon and cross-country skiing.
At the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Ukraine will be represented by 25 athletes and 10 guides. At the previous 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, the Ukrainian team took second place in the medal standings, winning 29 awards: 11 gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze.
It was also previously reported that the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympics took place without the participation of the Ukrainian delegation – it was boycotted due to the admission of Russia and Belarus under their flags.
