Ukrainian Kazik won the silver medal in the final 20-kilometer cross-country skiing race at the 2026 Paralympic Games
15 March 22:37
Ukrainian para-runner Oleksandr Kazik won the silver medal at the 2026 Paralympics in the 20 km race for athletes with visual impairments.
Kazik spent the first part of the race in a tight battle for gold with American Jake Edicoff, but was unable to hold on. In the final 1.4 km, the Ukrainian narrowed the time gap from 24 seconds to 7.2 seconds, but it wasn’t enough for him to snatch the gold medal, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
For Kazik, this is the first medal of his career in cross-country skiing at the Paralympic Games. Until now, his best result was a fifth-place finish in the middle-distance race at the previous Games in Beijing.
Overall, this is Kazik’s third medal at the 2026 Paralympics. The Ukrainian para-athlete won his two previous medals in biathlon: he became champion in the sprint and won silver in the sprint pursuit.
As for the rest of the Ukrainian Paralympians, two Ukrainians managed to finish in the top 10 of the race. Dmytro Suyarko finished seventh, and Maksym Murashkovsky finished 10th. Another Ukrainian, Ihor Kravchuk, took 13th place.
Paralympic racing. 20 km race, men (visually impaired class)
- Jake Edicoff (USA) 42:17.4
- Oleksandr Kazik (Ukraine) 7.2
- Antoine Chalançon (France) 1:04.5
…
- 7. Dmytro Suyarko (Ukraine) 2:28.5
- 10. Maksym Murashkovsky (Ukraine) 5:14.5
- 13. Ihor Kravchuk (Ukraine) 5:53.7
The cross-country skiing events at the 2026 Paralympics marked the final competitions for the Ukrainian team at these Games.
Overall, Ukraine finished 7th at the 2026 Paralympics with 19 medals: 3 gold, 8 silver, and 8 bronze. Ukraine ranked third in total medals, while China topped the medal count.
