Saturday gave us a lot to work with. Two Team USA biathlon medals were on the board before most American viewers finished their morning coffee. Brenna Huckaby posted the fastest qualifying time in women's snowboard cross. Para ice hockey was underway in Milan. Day 1 of the 2026 Paralympics delivered. Now comes the part where qualifying results turn into medal races.

Sunday, March 8 is the day the snowboard cross field races for medals. It's also the day the para biathlon gets its hardest format. Here's what to watch.

Para Snowboard Cross: Huckaby Goes for Gold

Saturday's snowboard cross was qualifying. Sunday is finals.

Brenna Huckaby went fastest among all women in her category on Saturday. She comes to Sunday as a three-time Paralympic medalist, the most decorated American para snowboarder in the sport's history, and someone who has been building toward this race for four years. Snowboard cross is her event. This is her first medal opportunity at these Games.

Kate Delson is also on the start list. She won silver at the 2025 World Championships and arrived in Milan as the second-ranked competitor in the world. This is her first Paralympics. Her first medal race at any Games runs on Sunday.

Noah Elliott enters Sunday as the top-ranked LL1 male competitor, and he's been calling Milan his redemption run all season after finishing fourth in Beijing.

For anyone coming to snowboard cross fresh: para snowboard cross puts athletes side by side on a technical obstacle course built with berms, jumps, and banked turns. Athletes race each other, not a clock. The course at Cortina's Para Snowboard Park runs athletes in LL1, LL2, and UL categories for both men and women. Finals run from approximately 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM local time, which is 5:00 AM to 7:30 AM ET.

Para Biathlon: Gretsch in a Longer Race

Saturday's biathlon sprint covered 7.5 kilometers with two shooting stages. Sunday's 12.5km individual has four shooting stages and a penalty structure that changes the math: each missed target costs one full minute of added time rather than a penalty loop. Over four stages, one bad shot in the wrong moment can swing the result dramatically. The format rewards steady aim across a long race when the rifle work gets harder.

Kendall Gretsch won the sprint on Saturday with a clean shooting day. She swept all three biathlon sitting events at the 2025 World Championships, including the individual, which gives Sunday's race a different feel than the sprint: this is a format where she's been dominant all year, and the longer distance suits a competitor who tends to get stronger as a race goes on.

Oksana Masters answered every question Saturday by standing on the podium in her first race since Beijing 2022. Sunday's biathlon individual gives her four shooting stages to demonstrate what her rebuilt season looks like over a longer course, in the format that typically produces the most separating results at the top of the field.

Biathlon runs from Tesero, in the Val di Fiemme cross-country stadium. Sitting events typically start around 10:00 AM local time, which puts the race beginning at approximately 4:00 AM ET.

Where to Watch

CNBC carries live coverage in the early-morning hours, with biathlon and snowboard cross finals both going before 8:00 AM ET. NBC's primetime show at 8:00 PM ET has the full day's results. Peacock has every event on demand, including everything from Saturday for anyone who missed the early start.

The full streaming and broadcast breakdown is in the how-to-watch guide.

Sunday opens with a 4:00 AM biathlon start and Huckaby going for medal number four. Worth setting the alarm.