At birth, doctors told Cristian Westemaier Ribera's mother he had two hours maximum to live. He was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a condition that causes bent and stiff joints throughout the body. Three months later, the family traveled 3,000 kilometers from their home in Cerejeiras, Rondônia (deep in the Amazon region) to São Paulo so he could get proper medical care.

He had 21 leg surgeries throughout childhood and youth.

On March 10, 2026, at 23 years old, Cristian won silver in the men's sprint sitting at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy. It's Brazil's first Winter Paralympic medal. Ever. First medal by a tropical, Latin American, or South American National Paralympic Committee at a Winter Games.

His brother Fábio is his coach. His sister Eduarda competed at the Beijing 2022 Olympics in cross-country skiing. His parents traveled from Brazil to watch him race.

Training for Snow Sports Without Snow

Brazil has no snow. The country's para Nordic skiing program was built on roller skis and asphalt.

Cristian started in the sport around 2015 as part of a Brazilian Snow Sports Federation (CBDN) and International Paralympic Committee development program. The original goal was to have a Brazilian athlete contending for a medal at the 2030 Paralympics.

He did it four years early.

"We always train so hard in Brazil," Cristian said after his medal race. "We don't have snow so we have to train on roller skis. It's very different, it's very difficult, but I'm here, representing Brazil and I'm very happy."

His brother Fábio became his coach along the way. "My brother became my coach because of me," Cristian said. "We get into fights. We are siblings!" Fábio was named Coach of the Season 2024/25 by CBDN after Cristian's dominant World Cup campaign.

As a kid growing up in Cerejeiras, Cristian used to skate down the streets to help with mobility. Now he races at elite level on a sit-ski in para cross-country skiing, one of the most grueling endurance sports at the Winter Paralympics.

Three Paralympics, One Family Infrastructure

This was Cristian's third Paralympic Games.

At PyeongChang 2018, he was 15 years old, the youngest competitor at the Games. He finished 6th in the men's 15km sitting, Brazil's best Winter Paralympics result at the time.

At Beijing 2022, he competed but finished off the podium. Before those Games, he'd won silver at the Lillehammer 2021 World Championships.

The 2024-25 season was the breakthrough. Cristian won the Crystal Globe (the overall World Cup title in men's sitting), becoming the first South American to claim a World Cup title in para cross-country skiing. He won 6 golds, 1 silver, and 2 bronze across the season, topping 6 of 7 podiums. At the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, he won gold in the men's sprint sitting and collected 4 total medals.

He came into Milan as the favorite.

The Race That Made History

The men's sprint sitting on March 10 used the classic technique. Sprint races in cross-country skiing are short, explosive efforts, usually 1 to 2 kilometers with qualification rounds and knockout finals.

Cristian's time: 2:29.6.

Liu Zixu of China won gold at 2:28.9, a margin of 0.7 seconds. Yerbol Khamitov of Kazakhstan took bronze at 2:29.9, just 0.3 seconds behind Cristian.

Cristian led for most of the race. Liu surged from near last place in the final stretch.

"I was crying because I realized my dream came true," Cristian said afterward. "My dream and my family's."

When he started competing in the sport, he thought he'd become a Paralympian. After he did that at 15, his goal became winning a medal.

"It was always my dream. When I started to compete in this sport, I thought I would be a Paralympian. After I did that, my goal was to win a medal."

He got there with his family. "My family always supported me a lot and even today, I do it for me but also because of them."

His sister Eduarda competed at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in cross-country skiing. His brother Fábio dedicated his career to coaching him. His parents made the trip to Italy to watch.

"To be on the podium, you have to work the hardest you can," Cristian said. "My brother is my coach, my sister was an Olympian two weeks ago."

The infrastructure was deliberate.

What Para Sport Gave Him

"Para sport made me who I am," Cristian said in a pre-Games interview. "It gave me my independence. It made me do my best in everything. It's the best thing you can do: know your goals, make new memories, improve yourself as a person."

He didn't discover the sport. Someone told him it would be a good experience, so he tried it. "I was already sporty and my coach told me it would be a good experience, so I was curious."

That curiosity, plus 21 surgeries, plus a family that built the support system around him, produced the first Winter Paralympic medal in Brazilian history.

If you're raising a child with a complex medical condition and wondering what adaptive sports access looks like, here's a practical starting point: How to Get Your Child into Adaptive Sports Programs for the Winter Sports from the 2026 Paralympics.