Sydney Peterson Won Four Paralympic Medals in Six Days. Between Races, She Is a Neuroscience PhD Student at the U

Sydney Peterson won her third gold medal of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games on March 15, 2026, in the women's 20km free standing in Tesero, Italy. It finished a run of four medals in six days: silver in the 1km sprint classic on March 10, gold in the 10km classic on March 11, gold in the mixed relay on March 14 and gold in the 20km.

"I'm in shock. I mean, I don't know how that happened. I just felt good racing and I just kept going," she told the International Paralympic Committee after the 20km.

Peterson is a doctoral student in neuroscience at the University of Utah. Team USA's profile counts seven Paralympic medals in her career, four of them gold.

Six days in Tesero

The sprint came first. On March 10 she took silver in the 1km sprint classic standing in 3:35.5, by U.S. Paralympics Nordic's account.

A day later she won her first individual Paralympic gold, in the 10km classic standing, in 29:49.2, 2.7 seconds ahead of Norway's Vilde Nilsen, with Canada's Brittany Hudak in bronze, FIS reported.

"I went out really hard because I knew I was going to take everything I had to win today," she said.

On March 14 she skied a leg of the mixed relay with Josh Sweeney, Oksana Masters, Jake Adicoff and guide Reid Goble, and the United States won gold, defending the title it won in Beijing in 2022. The 20km free the next day made it three golds and a silver. The IPC counted four medals for her from six events in Italy.

Beijing, where it began

Peterson's first Paralympics were in Beijing in March 2022. She won silver in the 15km classic standing in her Paralympic debut, 52.4 seconds behind Canada's Natalie Wilkie, then bronze in the sprint free. On March 13, 2022, she was part of the U.S. team that won the first mixed relay gold in its history, with Masters, Dan Cnossen, Adicoff and guide Sam Wood, St. Lawrence University reported.

She also placed sixth in the 10km free in Beijing. "I didn't really expect to ever be here and this all happened really fast," she told Team USA after her debut silver.

St. Lawrence, where she was a neuroscience major and skied, said her Beijing silver was the first Paralympic medal won by a U.S. woman in the standing classes in the history of the U.S. Paralympic Nordic team.

How she races

Peterson is from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, and graduated from Stillwater Area High School. She started skiing around age 5. Movement problems in her left arm began at 13, and at 19 she was diagnosed with dystonia, the University of Utah reported. Team USA and U.S. Ski & Snowboard describe it as primary dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle contractions and chronic pain in her left arm and leg.

She races with a brace on her left side and one pole. U.S. Ski & Snowboard says she had a deep-brain stimulation operation in 2023. Team USA classifies her LW9, in the standing category.

The lab and the snow

After St. Lawrence she came to the University of Utah for a doctoral program in neuroscience. A U.S. Paralympics Nordic feature in February 2026 described her working as a research lab assistant, with an interest in research on rare genetic disorders.

She credited the people around her in the University of Utah's profile: "I'd say relying on a great support network has made the difference."

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, which took over the U.S. Para Nordic program in 2026, lists her club as Team Soldier Hollow and her colleges as St. Lawrence University and the University of Utah.

Her record

• Paralympic Games: seven medals, four gold, two silver, one bronze (Beijing 2022 and Milano Cortina 2026)
• World Championships: seven medals, three silver and four bronze, by Team USA's count: silver in the 10km classic and the 1km sprint classic and bronze in the 15km free at the 2021 World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, held in January 2022; bronze in the 10km free and the 1km sprint free in 2023; bronze in the 1km sprint classic and silver in the mixed relay in 2025
• World Cup: three career World Cup victories by U.S. Ski & Snowboard's count, including two at Jakuszyce, Poland, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2026; FIS reported she reached the podium in every World Cup start that season
• U.S. Championships: 2023 U.S. champion, per U.S. Ski & Snowboard

On the 2026-27 team

U.S. Ski & Snowboard named Peterson to the A team of the 2026-27 U.S. Para Nordic Ski Team on Oct. 10, 2026, in the women's standing group. She is one of the Utah athletes followed on the Utah 2034 Olympics hub.

Key facts:

• Athlete: Sydney Peterson, Para Nordic skiing (standing, LW9), 2026-27 U.S. Para Nordic Ski Team A team
• Hometown: Lake Elmo, Minnesota (Stillwater Area High School)
• Utah tie: doctoral student in neuroscience at the University of Utah; club Team Soldier Hollow
• Milano Cortina 2026: gold in the 10km classic (29:49.2), the mixed relay and the 20km free; silver in the 1km sprint classic (3:35.5)
• Beijing 2022: gold in the mixed relay, silver in the 15km classic, bronze in the sprint free
• Career: seven Paralympic medals, four gold, per Team USA
• First: the first Paralympic medal by a U.S. woman in the standing classes in U.S. Paralympic Nordic history (2022), per St. Lawrence University