That ban had been in place since 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the eve of the Winter Paralympics four years ago, although it was softened the following year to allow athletes to compete as neutrals.

The Russian flag has not been flown at a Paralympic Games or shown on the medal table since Sochi 2014, firstly because of the country’s state-sponsored doping scandal, before the Ukraine war led to those further sanctions.

Voronchikhina, 23, finished 2.47 seconds shy of the gold medal-winning time set by Sweden’s Ebba Aarsjoe in the women’s standing downhill event in Cortina, while France’s Aurelie Richard took silver.

Voronchikhina’s Russian team-mate Aleksei Bugaev won bronze in the men’s standing downhill later on Saturday.

“It’s a really long time when we were without the flag, and I’m really glad 1772885090,” Voronchikhina said. “All my country and all my team-mates, we [are] glad also.”

Because of the outright ban on all Russian athletes from the Beijing Games four years ago, Voronchikhina is competing at her first Paralympics, despite being a two-time world champion in the Para-alpine skiing events.

She will compete in five further disciplines during these Games.

After returning to competition in January, Voronchikhina won four medals at her first World Cup in Saalbach, Austria, before double slalom gold in Feldberg, Germany, later in the month.