U.S. Ski & Snowboard officially announces the athletes who have been named to the 2026-27 Stifel U.S. Para Nordic Ski Team across all classifications and disciplines in both cross country skiing and biathlon.
The 2026-27 Para Nordic Ski Team enters the season as the world's highest-ranked team, with the sport's most decorated athletes. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games, 13 athletes represented Team USA’s Para nordic team and five won medals. Of the 24 Team USA Paralympic medals, the Para nordic athletes were responsible for 15.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, the men's and women's teams are stacked with veteran talent and promising young athletes. Oksana Masters, the most decorated winter Paralympian of all time, leads the women's A Team. At the Paralympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Masters won five medals, four of them gold, bringing her career Paralympic medal total to 24. Joining Masters on the A Team is seven-time Paralympic medalist Sydney Peterson. Peterson brought home four medals from Italy and is looking to build on that momentum this winter. Paralympian Dani Aravich will represent the B Team after a strong summer of training in Bozeman, Montana, and Nicole Zaino, who competed at her first Games last season, joins the D Team and looks to build on her success this upcoming winter.
On the men's side, eight-time Paralympic medalist Jake Adicoff leads the A Team after a perfect Games in Milano Cortina, where he won gold in all four events he raced in, setting a record for the most Para cross country gold medals by a Team USA athlete at a single Games. Josh Sweeney joins Adicoff on the A Team after a Paralympic gold medal in the mixed relay, his first Paralympic medal in Para nordic. Paralympian Jack Berry will represent the C Team, while Max Nelson, Ty Wiberg, Zhenghong Schlechte and Michael Kneeland make up a young D Team, all looking to build on their first seasons at the international level.
“Having the opportunity to work again with this program, its amazing athletes, and staff is an honor,” said John Farra, U.S. Ski & Snowboard Para Sport Director. “The move for the Para nordic team to U.S. Ski & Snowboard is exciting and brings some incredible sport performance resources that will support the continued advancement of our athletes' skills, fitness and equipment. We are all psyched to be able to focus our preparation on two World Championships this season in both cross country and biathlon.”
The 2026-27 FIS Para cross country season will kick off in Vuokatti, Finland, Dec. 15-18, 2026, and conclude in Beitostølen, Norway, March 2-6, 2027. The IBU Para Biathlon World Cup will begin its season in Vuokatti, Finland, Dec. 8-12, 2026 and end in Torsby, Sweden, March 10-14, 2027. The season will also include the FIS Para Cross Country World Championships in Finsterau, Germany, Jan. 27-31, 2027, and the IBU Para Biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia, Feb. 22-28, 2027. The Para cross country FIS schedule can be found here; the IBU Para biathlon schedule can be found here.
2026-27 U.S. Para Nordic Ski Team
(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate)
A TEAM
Women - Sitting
- Oksana Masters (Louisville, KY; DeVry University; 6/19/1989)
Women - Standing
- Sydney Peterson (Lake Elmo, MN; Team Soldier Hollow; St. Lawrence University, University of Utah; 2/17/2002)
Men - Sitting
- Josh Sweeney (Glendale, AZ; U.S. Marine Corps; 6/6/1987)
Men - Visually Impaired
- Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Bowdoin College; 5/16/1995)
B TEAM
Women - Standing
- Dani Aravich (Boise, ID; Crosscut Winter Sports Center; Butler University; 5/8/1996)
C TEAM
Men - Standing
- Jack Berry (Missoula, MT; Icebreakers; Boston College; 8/20/1997)
D TEAM
Women - Sitting
- Nicole Zaino (Brookfield, CT; Crosscut Winter Sports Center; Clarkson University, University of Washington; 2/25/1996)
Men - Sitting
- Michael Kneeland (Bozeman, MT; Crosscut Winter Sports Center; Montana State University; 10/25/2005)
- Ty Wiberg (Chippewa Falls, WI; Crosscut Winter Sports Center; Montana State University; 11/27/2001)
Men - Standing
- Zhenghong Schlechte (Mahtomedi, MN; Crosscut Winter Sports Center; Montana State University; 6/25/2007)
Men - Visually Impaired
- Max Nelson (Grant, MN; Endurance United; College of St. Scholastica; 3/5/2004)
2026-27 Stifel U.S. Para Nordic Ski Team Coaches & Staff
- Chief of Sport: Anouk Patty
- Senior Vice President of High Performance: Gillian Bower
- Para Sport Director: John Farra
- Head Coach: Eileen Carey
- Development Director: BethAnn Chamberlin
- World Cup Service Manager: Eli Brown
- Para Team Manager: Tina Cardamone
- Physical Therapist: Kate McDermott
- Press Officer: Leann Bentley
