Twelve sports, six countries represented, a quarter of the French Olympic and Paralympic teams, a third of France’s medals, and two flag-bearers!
From February 6 to 22, 2026, 37 students and 10 recent graduates from UGA competed at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. A record-breaking achievement and a top-level athletic adventure that continued from March 6 to 15, 2026, with the Paralympic Games and four new champions: three students and one recent graduate.
A little less than two years after the 2024 Paris Winter Olympics, where UGA students and recent graduates had won four medals and six Top 10 finishes, and four years after the 2022 Beijing Summer Paralympics, which yielded nine medals and sixteen Top 10 finishes, the UGA athletes’ “delegation” once again distinguished itself in Italy.
With four Paralympic silver medals from the 2018 PyeongChang Games, three Paralympic gold medals, and a bronze medal from the 2022 Beijing Games, Arthur Bauchet, a physics undergraduate, had already won almost everything at the Games except a gold medal in giant slalom, his favorite discipline.
Arthur Bauchet in the giant slalom event © CPSF / KMSPWith his thumb in a cast following his fall in the super-G, Arthur Bauchet broke the Friday the 13th curse by winning the giant slalom in Cortina. This Paralympic title adds to the one he won in the Alpine combined and a superb silver medal in the downhill (learn more).
Having won hiseighth consecutive World Cup Crystal Globe just before the start of these Games, “King Arthur” returns from his Italian campaign with two gold medals and one silver.
Aurélie Richard, a first-year student in the hybrid STAPS-SHIFT program (UFR STAPS – H3S Faculty), competed in her first Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina. It was a debut and a triumph, as she won four medals in five races!
Aurélie Richard on the slopes of Milan-Cortina © CPSF / KMSPAt just 20 years old, Aurélie Richard has won three Paralympic silver medals in downhill, super-G, and alpine combined. Although she finished just off the podium in slalom with a5th-place finish, the young champion from the French team added a bronze medal in giant slalom to her Paralympic medal count (learn more).
A top-level biathlete, Florian Michelon hung up his rifle when he moved up to the senior ranks before becoming Antony Chalençon’s guide in para Nordic skiing during the 2022–2023 winter season. The duo has already won four silver medals at the world championships.
Anthony Chalençon and Florian Michelon’s bronze medal © CPSF / KMSPA second-year master’s student in Civil Engineering, specializing in Urban Engineering (UFR PhITEM – Faculty of Sciences), Florian Michelon competed in his very first Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina. On March 15, 2026, the day of the final event of those Paralympic Games, he guided Anthony Chalençon to a bronze medal in the 20-kilometer cross-country skiing event.
A month earlier, on February 15, 2026, on the tracks at the Lago di Tesero Olympic Stadium, Victor Lovera, a second-year engineering student at Grenoble INP–Ensimag, UGA, and Théo Schely, a third-year student in the hybrid STAPS–SHIFT program, took second place on the podium.
From left to right: Victor Lovera, Mathis Desloges, Hugo Lapalus, and Théo Schely © Agence Zoom - Michel CottinAlong with their teammates Hugo Lapalus and Mathis Desloges, the two UGA cross-country skiers won a superb silver medal in the men’s 4 x 7.5 km cross-country relay (learn more). In the 50-km classic-style race, Théo Schely finished just off the podium (4th place and top French finisher), and Victor Lovera placed8th.
Two days after this silver medal in cross-country skiing, Fabien Claude, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports Science (STAPS) with a concentration in sports training in 2018, took to the trails at the Antholz-Anterselva venue as the first leg runner for the French men’s biathlon team.
From left to right: Fabien Claude, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Eric Perrot, and Emilien Jacquelin © Agence Zoom - Kevin VoigtAn Olympic silver medalist in the 4 x 7.5 km relay in 2022, he won gold this time around alongside Eric Perrot, Émilien Jacquelin, and Quentin Fillon Maillet (learn more).
Biathlon is a flagship sport in France, and it is also a flagship sport for the UGA. On February 18, 2026, once again on the trails of Antholz-Anterselva, Camille Bened, a first-year undergraduate student in Life Sciences (eBio track), was part of the “Fantastic Four” at these Winter Games.
From left to right: Camille Bened, Lou Jeanmonnot, Océane Michelon, and Julia Simon © Agence Zoom - Grega Valancic/VoigtAt the end of a historic race, Camille Bened, Lou Jeanmonnot, Océane Michelon, and Julia Simon were crowned Olympic champions in the women’s 4 x 7.5 km relay (learn more). This achievement hadn’t been accomplished in 34 years, since the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.
Camille Bened, who also placed sixth in the 15-km individual race, is following in the footsteps of Marie Dorin-Habert, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, Anaïs Bescond, and Chloé Chevalier—all graduates of UGA!
In addition to these eleven Olympic and Paralympic medals, UGA students and recent graduates also distinguished themselves at the 2026 Winter Games by securing no fewer than twenty-nine Top 10 finishes, including six Top 5 finishes.
“This year’s ‘Team UGA’ at the Milan-Cortina Youth Olympic Games is much younger than at previous Winter Games. The medals and numerous Top 10 finishes achieved in Italy bode well for the 2030 Olympic Games in the Alps,” said Philippe Giroud, UGA’s Special Needs Student Coordinator and SHN Director, and General Director of CASE Grenoble Alpes. "Congratulations to all our students and recent graduates on their Olympic and Paralympic selections, their performances, and their success in pursuing both academic and athletic goals at the highest level! "
