“I don’t want to come down in 10th place, I want to come down in first. So, got to give it everything,” he said. “I’ll probably get a bit of a slap up the head [from mum], but I’m sure she would have calmed down now that she’s seen me sitting here chatting for a while.”
Taryn Dickens of Team Australia competes with guide Lynn Maree Cullen during the Para Biathlon Women’s Sprint VI Final on day one of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games.Credit: Getty Images for IPC
Hanlon was among the first Australians to compete in a podium potential race on Saturday. Lauren Parker, Matt Brumby, Dave Miln and Taryn Dickens all competed in the para biathlon sprints in nearby Tesero, coming 13th, 26th, 28th and 14th in their respective races.
“I’m not here to put socks on caterpillars, but I reckon that actually would have been easier,” Dickens said afterwards.
In Parker’s race, American Oksana Masters claimed her 20th Paralympic medal and 10th gold medal, while her teammate Kendall Gretsch took silver in her eighth Paralympic medal.
Aleksei Bugaev wins Russia’s second medal of the Winter Paralympic Games. Credit: Getty Images
“I’m quite disappointed,” Parker said after. “They’re amazing athletes, and hopefully, I’ll be one of them maybe in four years time.”
Also on Saturday, Russia won its first Paralympic medals since 2014. Two of its six athletes, Varvara Voronchikhina and flag-bearer Aleksei Bugaev, won bronze in the alpine downhill standing categories.
Australia have more chances to podium on Sunday in the para biathlon and para snowboarding when Ben Tudhope – Australia’s only medallist at the last Winter Paralympics in Beijing – competes.
This masthead has travelled to Cortina as a guest of Paralympics Australia.
