Andrew Kurka won bronze in the men's sitting super-G at Tofane in Cortina d'Ampezzo at the 2026 Winter Paralympics. It's his third Games where he's earned a medal, across four total, adding to the gold and the silver he won at PyeongChang 2018. Back in Palmer, Alaska, the accessible B&B he built for disabled travelers was waiting.

Three Games, Three Podiums

Kurka first competed at the Winter Paralympics at Sochi 2014, where he didn't medal. He came back to PyeongChang 2018 as the first Alaskan ever to qualify for the Winter Games, winning gold in the downhill and silver in super-G in a single competition. He broke more than 20 bones over his career and kept competing. He medaled at Beijing 2022, and he medaled again at Cortina.

Most para alpine careers don't look like this. The speed events he competes in (downhill, super-G, disciplines where a mono-ski hits 80 miles per hour on a mountain course) don't reward aging bodies the same way technical events do. The fact that he keeps landing on the podium across more than a decade in a sport that punishes any lapse in reaction time says something about how he approaches this.

"Stay stubborn, stay gritty, and don't quit," he told Olympics.com heading into Milan. The bronze at Tofane is evidence he means it.

What He Built Between Games

In Palmer, about 45 minutes north of Anchorage, Kurka runs the Golden Standard Bed and Breakfast. He built it specifically for guests with disabilities. If you've ever tried to plan a trip with a wheelchair user and found that "accessible" on a hotel website can mean almost anything, the Golden Standard is a different experience. The property is designed by someone who has spent his entire adult life navigating the same systems his guests navigate.

The name is a nod to his PyeongChang gold, but it's also a standard he's set for the property. Disabled guests shouldn't have to call ahead to confirm measurements or improvise around bathrooms that don't work for them. Alaska's mountains, wildlife, and open terrain are supposed to be available to everyone. Families who've struggled with accessible travel will recognize what it means to arrive somewhere that was built for you from the start.

The Pilot's License

Through Able Flight, a nonprofit that trains people with physical disabilities to fly through a partnership with Purdue University, Kurka earned his sport pilot license. His next plan is to become a sport pilot instructor and bring flight experiences to B&B guests.

The combination is specific to him in a way that feels intentional. A guest could fly into Anchorage, drive 45 minutes to Palmer, and spend a weekend at a property built for disabled travelers before learning to fly a plane with a guy who won Olympic gold between those plans. He's not building a typical athlete-to-speaker pipeline after the Games. He's building a place.

What the 2026 Games Added

Para alpine skiing at the sitting level is not a sport that gets easier. The courses at Tofane ran the same conditions they always run: ice, pitch, and speeds that punish any hesitation. Kurka's bronze in super-G at his fourth Games doesn't erase PyeongChang, and it doesn't need to. The PyeongChang gold is the result that made him the first Alaskan on a Winter Paralympic podium. The 2026 bronze is the result that says he's still here, still on the mountain, still capable of standing on the podium a decade into this.

He's also broken more than 20 bones over his career. He mentors students through Classroom Champions, a program connecting Olympic and Paralympic athletes with underserved classrooms. He told his athletes what he tells himself.

The Next Four Years

The next Winter Paralympics are in the French Alps in 2030. Kurka will be 36. Whether he goes to a fifth Games is a question for later. What he's already built doesn't wait on that answer. The Golden Standard is in Palmer, ready for guests. The pilot's license is in his pocket. The para alpine bronze from 2026 is part of the record.

Families looking for adaptive sports programs for kids often point to athletes like Kurka as the model, which is fine as far as it goes. What's less discussed is the rest of what he built: a property in Alaska where someone can show up and find the world set up for them rather than adjusted to tolerate them.

For the families who've been watching these Games and wondering what's on the other side of all of it, the Golden Standard is a concrete answer. You can book a room.