Dutch Skier Wins Gold Days After Neck Injury Crash

Two days after crashing hard enough to injure his neck and upper back, Dutch Paralympic skier Jeroen Kampschreur stood atop the podium with gold around his neck.

Kampschreur didn't just finish the men's super-G sitting race on March 9. He dominated it, defeating Norway's Jesper Pedersen, a six-time Paralympic gold medalist and the reigning champion in this event.

"Today I took revenge, big time," Kampschreur said after the race. "It's crazy, surreal. I really wanted to win this one so badly after what happened on Saturday."

The crash on Saturday could have ended his games. Instead, Kampschreur called this "the golden race" and said he "completely killed it."

His wasn't the only comeback story on Day 3 of the Milano Cortina Paralympics. Spain's Audrey Pascual Seco upgraded her downhill silver medal to super-G gold in the women's sitting event, edging out Japan's Momoka Muraoka.

Muraoka's silver medal carried its own inspiring backstory. She broke her collarbone in November and hadn't raced since, even withdrawing from Saturday's downhill race before deciding to compete again.

"After the silver medal in the downhill, I got a bittersweet taste because I was so close to gold," Pascual Seco said. "I started with the will to win, made mistakes, but they were not big enough, and I got gold."

Why This Inspires

These athletes show us what's possible when we refuse to let setbacks define us. Kampschreur could have withdrawn after his crash, prioritizing safety over competition. Muraoka could have sat out the entire games to heal fully.

Instead, both chose to push through pain and uncertainty. Their medals prove that sometimes the greatest victories come not from perfect preparation, but from the courage to compete despite our wounds.

Meanwhile, Latvia's wheelchair curling team wrote their own comeback script. After losing their first three matches and facing elimination, they won four straight games to reach the semifinals. "The Prosecco is on me," team member Polina Rozkova joyfully told the Italian team whose victory secured Latvia's semifinal spot.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics continue through March 15, with athletes proving every day that limitations exist only in our minds.