Beijing 2022, Day 7: Top stories, moments and records from the Paralympic Winter Games

One family dominated Para alpine skiing on day seven of the Paralympic Winter Games

Medals were awarded in four events on day seven of the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, in Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para snowboard and wheelchair curling.

The Aigner sisters, Veronika and Barbara, won gold and bronze in the visually-impaired Para alpine skiing slalom discipline just a day after another sibling, Johannes, won the men's event in what is Olympics.com's moment of the day.

The men’s snowboard banked slalom took place with the 11th-placed finisher from PyeongChang 2018, Qi Sun, this time claiming gold for the hosts at Beijing 2022. Finland's Matti Suur-Hamari claimed silver and there was also a first-ever snowboard medal for Paralympics GB from debutant Ollie Hill who bagged bronze.

Japan’s Muraoka Momoka defended her giant slalom sitting title from PyeongChang 2018, with People’s Republic of China’s Liu Sitong securing silver for her third medal at Beijing 2022. Her compatriot Zhang Wenjing completed the podium in third place, her second bronze of these Games.

Six more champions were crowned on the final day of the Para biathlon with another 1-2 for the US rivals Oksana Masters and Kendall Gretsch, with Masters this time coming out on top in the 12.5km individual sitting, despite missing one target to Gretsch's perfect record. China's Shan Yilin finished third. Gretsch had previously triumphed in the 10km while Masters prevailed in the sprint.

Ukraine yet again won multiple medals in the biathlon disciplines with five more including a 1-2 in the men's visually impaired event courtesy of Oleksandr Kazik (and guide Serhii Kucheriavyi) and Vitaliy Lukyanenko (with guide Borys Babar). China's Yu Shuang (guide, Wang Guanyu) came in third.

Canada won the first team medal of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games claiming bronze in the wheelchair curling, beating Slovakia 8-3. Both teams had competed earlier in the day for the right to play in the gold-medal match taking place on Saturday (12 March) but Canada lost to hosts People's Republic of China and Slovakia just missed out in a nail-biting game against Sweden who play against the hosts for the Paralympic title on the penultimate day of the Games.

Meanwhile, in the Para ice hockey, Canada went through to their second consecutive Paralympic Games final beating Republic of Korea 11-0, with captain Tyler McGregor scoring four. In the second semi-final of the day, the USA beat the hosts, 11-0 to go through to the final on Sunday (13 March), and a classic match up against their great rivals, Canada who will be looking to wrest the Paralympic title from the USA who have won the event for the past three consecutive Paralympic Games. The bronze medal match between Republic of Korea and China takes place on Saturday (12 March).

Moment of the day

The Aigner family dynasty continued to announce itself on the world stage following Para alpine skier Johannes Aigner’s win in the men’s visually impaired slalom event on Thursday (10 March). Not wanting to be outdone by her brother, Veronika Aigner replicated his feat by winning the women’s version of the same event on Friday (11 March), beating the host's Zhu Daqing to the gold medal by a seven-second margin over the two runs. Not only that but Veronika, 16, was guided by another Aigner, sister Elisabeth, and not only that, but the bronze medalist was another sibling, and Johannes' twin, Barbara. All teenagers – bar Elisabeth who is 23 – the family will be a big name in the Paralympic Games for years to come, winning multiple medals for Austria. Quite the day then for the Aigner family.

"It’s just unbelievable because these are the first Paralympics for us all and that it happened in this way, it is just unbelievable," Johannes said following his sibling's triumphs.

"I cried at the flower ceremony because I'm so happy to win with my sisters. All of us cried at the ceremony," Elisabeth added.

Athlete of the day

German Para alpine skier Andrea Rothfuss won a 14th medal at her fifth Winter Paralympic Games, claiming third in the women's giant slalom standing discipline. China's Zhang Mengqiu claimed gold with Canada's Mollie Jepsen bagging bronze. Rothfuss' first Paralympic Winter Games was at Turin 2006 where she won silver in the same event. The majority of her medals are silver, with nine, but she claimed the ultimate prize once at Sochi 2014 in the slalom, to add to her five world championship titles. Compatriots Linn Kazmaier (with guide Florian Baumann) and Leonie Maria Walter (with guide Pirmin Strecker) also claimed medals today, winning silver and bronze, respectively in the women's individual vision-impaired Para biathlon discipline.

What to watch next

The action continues on the penultimate day of Beijing 2022 on Saturday 12 March with medals in Para alpine skiing, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey and wheelchair curling. The women take to the slopes for the slalom disciplines in alpine skiing, while men and women tackle the middle distance events in the cross-country skiing. The ice hockey tournament sees the bronze medallist decided and the wheelchair curling culminates in the title decider. We may be heading toward the end of the Games but there’s no let up in the excitement.

All medals of the day

Women’s events

Para Alpine skiing - Giant slalom Vision Impaired

• Gold: Veronika Aigner (AUT) (guide: Elisabeth Aigner)
• Silver: Zhu Daqing (CHN) (guide: Yan Hanhan)
• Bronze: Barbara Aigner (AUT) (guide: Klara Sykora)

Para Alpine skiing - Giant slalom Standing

• Gold: Zhang Mengqiu (CHN)
• Silver: Mollie Jepsen (CAN)
• Bronze: Andrea Rothfuss (GER)

Para Alpine skiing - Giant slalom Sitting

• Gold: Muraoka Momoka (JPN)
• Silver: Liu Sitong (CHN)
• Bronze: Zhang Wenjing (CHN)

Para Biathlon - Individual sitting

• Gold: Oksana Masters (USA)
• Silver: Kendall Gretsch (USA)
• Bronze: Shan Yilin (CHN)

Para Biathlon - Individual standing

• Gold: Liudmyla Liashenko (UKR)
• Silver: Zhao Zhiqing (CHN)
• Bronze: Brittany Hudak (CAN)

Para Biathlon - Individual vision impaired

• Gold: Oksana Shyshkova (UKR) (guide: Andriy Marchenko)
• Silver: Linn Kazmaier (GER) (guide: Florian Baumann)
• Bronze: Leonie Maria Walter (GER) (guide: Pirmin Strecker)

Para Snowboard - banked slalom lower limb

• Gold: Brenna Huckaby (USA)
• Silver: Geng Yanhong (CHN)
• Bronze: Li Tiantian (CHN)

Men’s events

Para Biathlon - Individual sitting

• Gold: Liu Mengtao (CHN)
• Silver: Taras Rad (UKR)
• Bronze: Liu Zixu (CHN)

Para Biathlon - Individual standing

• Gold: Benjamin Daviet (FRA)
• Silver: Mark Arendz (CAN)
• Bronze: Grygorii Vovchynskyi (UKR)

Para Biathlon - Individual vision impaired

• Gold: Oleksandr Kazik (UKR) (guide: Serhii Kucheriavyi_)_
• Silver: Vitaliy Lukyanenko (UKR) (guide: Borys Babar_)_
• Bronze: Yu Shuang (CHN) (guide: Wang Guanyu)

Para Snowboard - banked slalom upper limb

• Gold: Maxime Montaggioni (FRA)
• Silver: Ji Lijia (CHN)
• Bronze: Zhu Yonggang (CHN)

Para Snowboard - banked slalom lower limb (1)

• Gold: Wu Zhongwei (CHN)
• Silver: Chris Vos (NED)
• Bronze: Tyler Turner (CAN)

Para Snowboard - banked slalom lower limb (2)

• Gold: Qi Sun (CHN)
• Silver: Matti Suur-Hamari (FIN)
• Bronze: Ollie Hill (GBR)

Mixed events

Wheelchair curling - bronze medal game

• Canada