Tuesday at Tesero, Oksana Masters won the women's sitting sprint and earned her 21st Paralympic medal. Aaron Pike was there at the finish line to meet her, the same way he was in Sochi in 2014 when she won her first winter medal. On Wednesday, Pike is the one on the start list.

Cross-Country Goes to Distance

Tuesday's sprint events at Tesero ran fast and short. Wednesday's para cross-country skiing schedule flips to the 10km interval start, a sustained distance race across the sitting, standing, and visually impaired categories. Six medal events are on the card.

Coverage starts at 4:45 AM ET on USA Network, with the women's sitting 10km leading the morning. The men's sitting 10km begins at 5:10 AM ET on Peacock and USA Network. Standing and visually impaired categories follow from 6:30 AM through 8:45 AM ET.

Aaron Pike's 10km

Aaron Pike is 39 years old, an eight-time Paralympian, and a world champion in para cross-country skiing. He has two individual world championship golds in para biathlon and a third in the mixed relay in cross-country. He and Masters have trained at the same venues and raced at the same Games across more than a decade.

He has never won a Paralympic medal.

The sitting 10km is where that changes, or it doesn't. Pike races at 5:10 AM ET at Tesero, the same stadium where Masters has won twice in five days. The interval start format means athletes go out at staggered times and race against the clock, not head to head. The 10km tests endurance and pacing in a way the sprint does not.

Pike and Masters are engaged. They plan to wed after the Games. He proposed in a gondola, a nod to the one they rode at Sochi 2014. She crossed the biathlon sprint finish line earlier at these Games and he was the first person to reach her. Wednesday morning, he's the one racing.

Emt and Dwyer in the Bronze Medal Game

Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer lost to Korea in the mixed doubles wheelchair curling semifinals. Wednesday at 9:35 AM ET, they face Latvia in the bronze medal game.

The United States has never won a Paralympic medal in wheelchair curling. Emt, 56, is the most decorated U.S. Paralympic curler in history, a 10-time national champion competing in his third Games. Dwyer discovered the sport seven years after a 1,000-pound tree branch fell on her at work in 2012, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. They reached the medal round by beating undefeated China in the final round-robin session when their Games-long campaign came down to a single match.

The bronze medal game is on Peacock and USA Network at 9:35 AM ET.

Where to Watch

USA Network carries the early cross-country races live starting at 4:45 AM ET, with Peacock simulcasting from 5:10 AM ET for the men's sitting 10km. Standing and VI events continue through 8:45 AM ET. Wheelchair curling bronze and gold medal games are both at 9:35 AM ET on Peacock and USA Network. NBC primetime at 8:00 PM ET covers the day's results and highlights. Full streaming and broadcast details at the how-to-watch guide.

Pike races at 5:10 AM ET. Emt and Dwyer play Latvia at 9:35 AM ET. Wednesday has two stories that have been building since before the Games opened.