SANTA CATERINA, ITALY — Canadian para skier Michaela Gosselin won a pair of World Cup downhills Wednesday.

The 23-year-old from Collingwood, Ont., claimed the first World Cup gold of her career and added a second.

“My first World Cup win, my first podium in downhill, and back-to-back wins today, is all pretty exciting,” Gosselin said.

She started para alpine skiing in 2019 after cancer surgery on her left shoulder. Gosselin races in a standing classification for athletes with a compromised upper-body extremity.

Gosselin placed fourth in women’s slalom in her Paralympic debut in Beijing in 2022, and also earned a world championship bronze medal that year.

With poor weather forecast for Thursday, organizers compressed multiple races into a single day. Canadians earned medals in seven races Wednesday.

Calgary’s Kurt Oatway was a gold and silver medallist in a pair of men’s sitting downhills. The Paralympic super-G champion in 2018 has reached the podium in all seven of his races this season.

Kalle Ericsson of Kimberley, B.C., and his Ottawa guide Sierra Smith were third in a pair of races for visually impaired athletes.

Alexis Guimond of Gatineau, Que., was third in a men’s standing race in his first World Cup race this season.

Canada’s para ski team heads to St. Moritz, Switzerland, for super-G races Saturday and Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2025.