Andorran Skier Roger Puig Claims Fifth in Paralympic Downhill, Securing Nation's Best Winter Result

Andorran para-alpine skier Roger Puig secured fifth place in the downhill at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics on Saturday, claiming Andorra's first Winter Paralympic diploma and the country's best-ever performance in the Games.

Competing in the standing LW9-2 category, Puig completed the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1:19.72, finishing 1.93 seconds behind gold medalist Switzerland's Robin Cuche (LW9-1), who recorded 1:17.79. France's Arthur Bauchet earned silver, while Russia's Aleksei Bugaev took bronze—0.78 seconds ahead of Puig. Starting with bib number six, Puig posted competitive splits: fifth at the first intermediate (+0.55 seconds), fourth at the second (+0.93) and third (+1.32), before small errors in the final section dropped him to fifth at the line. He held third provisional upon finishing, only to be displaced by Bauchet and Bugaev.

The result surpasses Puig's previous Paralympic bests—a 17th in the Beijing 2022 giant slalom and 20th in the Pyeongchang 2018 slalom—and eclipses Andorra's national record, an eighth by visually impaired skier Paquita Ramírez in Turin 2006.

Puig arrived in strong form after two official training runs on the course, placing third in the first under sunny conditions with softening snow, and fifth in the second while testing new lines despite minor final-section mistakes (0.21 seconds off third). Reports varied slightly on the first run, with one noting second place. A third session scheduled for Friday was cancelled.

Speaking to RTVA after the race, Puig expressed satisfaction: he had felt nervous in the morning given his training pace but refocused on skiing cleanly. "I applied more patience," he said. "I'm super happy with my run, even if I lost time at the end—this first downhill and diploma mean a lot." He added that the achievement would grow on him over time.

This marked Puig's debut following Friday's opening ceremony. He has Sunday off before the super-G on Monday, followed by the alpine combined (slalom and super-G) on Tuesday, giant slalom on Friday, and slalom on Sunday.