The Aigner family keeps stacking up Para skiing medals.
The tally for the family is now at 15 medals over two Winter Paralympics Games, after siblings Veronika Aigner and Johannes Aigner won six medals in Para alpine skiing this week at Milan Cortina.
Veronika and Johannes are representing the family in Milan Cortina four years after they joined two other siblings in the family, Barbara and Elisabeth, to win a total of nine medals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games.
They compete in the visually impaired discipline in standing ski. Barbara — Johannes’ twin — retired from racing last year, while Elisabeth — who had been Veronika’s guide — is not competing at the Milan Cortina Games because of a knee injury. Irmgard, the fifth sibling, was initially Veronika’s guide before Elisabeth took over the role. Irmgard and Elisabeth are not visually impaired.
Veronika, Johannes and Barbara were born with congenital cataracts.
The entire family, including parents Petra and Christian — who are avid skiers — are in Cortina d’Ampezzo to cheer on Johannes and Veronika. Petra has the same congenital condition as her three daughters.
“I saw my family yesterday for the first time here, and my twin sisters were crying at the Austrian House,” Johannes said. “It’s a good feeling. It’s good when you see the family because we are not (staying) at home. We are not often together.”
The 20-year-old Johannes has won two gold medals and a bronze at Milan Cortina, while the 23-year-old Veronika has two gold medals and a silver.
“I’m proud of her,” Johannes said of his sister. “It’s a cool thing.”
Johannes and Veronika have won eight of Austria’s eight medals so far at Milan Cortina.
Veronika and Johannes and Barbara combined to win nine of the 11 medals that Austria won in Para alpine skiing in Beijing.
Lilly Sammer took over as Veronika’s guide after the 27-year-old Elisabeth hurt her knee. The guides ski in front of the athlete and provide verbal instructions communicated through headsets or speakers strapped on the guide’s back.
Veronika said Sammer is “very good” but it’s different from having her sister in the role.
“When the guide is a sibling, I wouldn’t say it’s better, but you know each other since birth, you know exactly what the other needs,” she said.
Veronika and Johannes are not done competing yet at Milan Cortina, and could add even more medals to the family’s already impressive stack.
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AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games
