Voronchikhina wins Russia's first medal at Games

That ban had been in place since 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the eve of the Winter Paralympics four years ago, although it was softened the following year to allow athletes to compete as neutrals.

The Russian flag has not been flown at a Paralympic Games or shown on the medal table since Sochi 2014, firstly because of the country's state-sponsored doping scandal, before the Ukraine war led to those further sanctions.

Voronchikhina, 23, finished 2.47 seconds shy of the gold medal-winning time set by Sweden's Ebba Aarsjoe in the standing downhill event in Cortina, while France's Aurelie Richard took silver.

Because of the outright ban of all Russian athletes from the Beijing Games four years ago, Voronchikhina is competing at her first Paralympics, despite being a two-time world champion in the Para-alpine skiing events.

She will compete in five further disciplines during these Games.

After returning to competition in January, Voronchikhina won four medals at her first World Cup in Saalbach, Austria, before double slalom gold in Feldberg, Germany, later in the month.