| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 17, 2002 Lake Elmo, Minnesota | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para Nordic skiing (Para cross-country skiing) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Dystonia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | LW9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University team | St. Lawrence University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sydney Jo Peterson (born February 17, 2002) is an American para cross-country skier.
Peterson began skiing at the age of 5. She skied for Stillwater Area High School in Minnesota.
Peterson won the silver medal in the women's 10 km standing cross-country skiing event and the woman's standing cross country sprint event at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships held in Lillehammer, Norway. [1] [2] She also won the bronze medal in the women's long-distance standing cross-country skiing event. [3] [4]
Peterson competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics and created history in her first Paralympic appearance after claiming a silver medal in the women's 15km classic standing event. In doing so she became the first standing American female to earn a medal. In addition to her silver medal achievement, Peterson also clinched bronze in the skate sprint and gold in the team mixed relay.
In the 2023 season, Peterson earned two bronze medals, in the Skate sprint and Skate 10km, in the FIS 2023 Para Nordic World Championships in Östersund Sweden. At the championships, Peterson raced her debut race in biathlon earning 4th. [5]
Additionally, Peterson skied on the Division 1 NCAA ski team at St. Lawrence University, where graduated from in 2023 with a bachelors of science in neuroscience. Peterson plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience.
The fall of 2023, Peterson underwent a series of major surgeries to have a deep brain stimulator placed, in the hopes of slowing the progression of her dystonia. [6] Shortly following DBS, Peterson returned to compete in the 2024 Biathlon World Championships [7] and 2024 World Cup Finals [8] where she earned two top 5 finishes.
Oleg Ponomarev is a Russian Paralympic Nordic skier who competed in cross-country skiing and biathlon at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, in Sochi. He won a bronze medal in the 1 km sprint for visually impaired athletes.
Oksana Masters is an American multi-sport Paralympic athlete of Ukrainian descent from Louisville, Kentucky. Having primarily specialized in rowing and cross-country skiing, she won the first ever United States medal in trunk and arms mixed double sculls at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She was also a part of the U.S. Nordic skiing team at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. She won two Paralympic medals in 2014 and five Paralympic medals in 2018, including two gold. She switched to para-cycling after the 2012 Paralympics and competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals at the latter. She competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, winning a gold medal in Biathlon – Women's 6 kilometres, sitting.
Ben Tudhope is an Australian Paralympian who has competed in para-snowboard cross at three Winter Paralympics 2014 to 2022. His selection at the age of 14 at the 2014 Winter Paralympics meant that he became Australia's youngest Winter Paralympian, replacing Michael Milton. He was the youngest competitor at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games from any country. He also competed at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. At the 2022 Winter Paralympics, he won the bronze medal in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-LL2.
Oleksandra Mykolaivna Kononova is a Ukrainian Paralympic skier. She won three medals at the 2010 Paralympics and became the 2010 Ukrainian sports personality of the year.
Vladislav Alekseyevich Lekomtsev is a Russian para-cross-country skier and para-biathlete. During the 2014 Winter Paralympics he won a gold medal in 7.5 km biathlon race and then won bronze one for the 20 km cross country skiing at the same place.
Alexander Pronkov is a Russian Paralympic cross country skier from Kozlovka village, Penza Oblast, Russia. who won a gold medal in the 10 km freestyle race at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.
Natalia Kocherova is Russian Paralympic wheelchair and cross-country skier from Omsk.
Iuliia Batenkova-Bauman is a Ukrainian Nordic skier who competes in cross-country skiing and biathlon. She has competed in three successive Winter Paralympics, where she has won 13 silver and bronze medals.
Anja Wicker is a German disabled cross-country skier and biathlete. She represented Germany at the 2014 Winter Paralympics claiming a gold and a silver medal in the biathlon events. She also represented Germany at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Paralympics.
Stanislav Chokhlaev is a Russian male visually impaired cross-country skier and biathlete. He represented Russia at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and was successful in his first Paralympic competition, claiming three medals including 2 silver medals in the cross-country skiing event. In 2017, he was awarded the Return to Life Prize by the Russian Paralympic Committee.
Sviatlana Sakhanenka is a Belarusian visually impaired cross-country skier and biathlete. She made her Paralympic debut during the 2018 Winter Paralympics and she competed in the biathlon and cross-country skiing events.
Kendall Gretsch is an American triathlete, biathlete and cross-country skier. She was born with spina bifida. She has competed in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics and has a unique distinction of winning gold medals in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.
Benjamin Daviet is a French male cross-country skier and biathlete. He has competed at the Winter Paralympics twice in his career in 2014 and 2018. Daviet claimed the first Paralympic gold medal of his career after winning the men's 7.5km standing biathlon event during the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Liudmyla Liashenko is a Ukrainian cross-country skier and biathlete. She has competed at the Paralympics in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Yury Holub is a Belarusian male visually impaired cross-country skier and biathlete. He made his Paralympic debut during the 2018 Winter Paralympics and went onto claim 3 medals so far in his first Paralympic appearance including a gold medal. He claimed his first Paralympic gold medal after winning the men's 12.5km visually impaired biathlon event during the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Taras Rad is a Ukrainian amputated male cross-country skier and biathlete. He made his Paralympic debut at the age of 18 for Ukraine at the 2018 Winter Paralympics competing in Cross-country skiing and Biathlon events. He also went onto claim his first Paralympic medal during the 2018 Winter Paralympics after clinching the gold medal in the men's 12.5km sitting biathlon event.
Oleksandr Kazik is a Ukrainian male visually impaired cross-country skier and biathlete.
Rushan Minnegulov is a Russian biathlete and cross-country skier. He won the gold medal in the men's 20 km standing cross-country skiing event at the 2014 Winter Paralympics held in Sochi, Russia. He also won the silver medal in the men's 1 km sprint classic event and the gold medal in the 4 x 2.5 kilometre open relay event. He also competed in biathlon and cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Paralympics held in Vancouver, Canada.
Vera Khlyzova is a Russian Paralympic cross-country skier and biathlete. She competes in the B2 category, which is for visually impaired athletes. She won the World Cup in para cross-country skiing 2019/20. She has Natalia Iakimova as her guide. She won the Paralympic cross-country skiing World Cup in 2019–20. Her sight guide is Natalia Iakimova.
Iryna Vasylivna Buy is a Ukrainian Paralympic biathlete and cross-country skier. She won the gold medal in the women's 10 kilometres standing event at the 2022 Winter Paralympics held in Beijing, China. She also competed at the Winter Paralympics in 2014 and 2018.
