Memories of twin inspire Paralympian Patrick Halgren to spread good vibes — one sticker at a time

Upon his arrival in Italy, Paralympic ski racer Patrick Halgren plastered a blue-and-yellow sticker in the bathroom of a popular restaurant.

The first of many stickers to be stuck somewhere.

By the time the Milan Cortina Paralympics are over, those decals that read “ SvendIt ” will be spotted on chairlifts, water bottles and buildings all around Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The phrase, a play on “send-it,” is Halgren’s mantra on life.

Even more, it's a way to honor his late twin brother, Lucas Sven Halgren, who went by Sven. He’s the one who encouraged Halgren to take up the sport after Halgren lost his left leg above the knee in a motorcycle crash in 2013. He's the reason why Halgren’s at his second Paralympics and about to compete in five different events over a busy week. Three years after Halgren's motorcycle crash, Sven, an avid skier who chased adventure all over the world, died in a motorcycle crash in New Zealand.

Halgren lives life to the fullest for his twin. Halgren, who lives part of the year out of his van, isn’t afraid to take chances, especially on the hill. Because the “SvendIt” attitude comes from the heart — and the belly, where he has the word tattooed.

“I’ve got a lot of really good friends messaging me and saying, ‘He’d be so proud of you,’” said Halgren, who was 20 minutes older than Sven. “When there’s a ray of sunshine (on the mountain), I’ve got to believe that it’s him up there … showing me the way.”

To be here, in Cortina, was a victory in itself. Halgren has been banged up all season from one crash after another. He’s qualified in the standing division of the downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and Alpine combined. His mom, Kathy, and dad, Peter, flew in from Connecticut to watch.

To prepare, he's changing up his look. He'll keep his braids for Saturday's downhill race before dyeing his hair red and blue to go with the blonde for the super-G.

“Because blondes have more fun,” he cracked.

It's an adventure-filled existence for Halgren, who splits his time between living out of his Ford camper van and his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During ski season, he parks the van in the vicinity of Winter Park Resort, where he announces races for kids, helps repair fences, trains and just cuts loose. He's the self-described, "sheriff of the mountain, and I thank everybody for voting for me,” he joked.

Recently, he's been dabbling in the movie-making realm, too. He worked on a film titled “ Us and Them,” which showcases adaptive skiing from the perspective of athletes such as Halgren.

“We just wanted to shoot a short film with disabled people just doing cool stuff,” the 33-year-old Halgren said. “I feel like I have a super-power at the moment — being able to combat hate with love and spread it to those who have helped me really get here.”

Like his brother, who encouraged Halgren after his crash.

Halgren was running late to work in 2013 and racing to get there. He couldn't make a turn on his motorcycle and veered off the road.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to die,’" he recalled.

But there was a farm with a field and he steered that direction.

“I was like, ‘Oh, thank God. I’m going to probably walk away,’” he said. "I went flying into the field and that’s the last thing I remember.”

There were rocks surrounding a telephone pole that he hit going about 80 mph. He was pinned between the bike and the pole. The main artery in his pelvis was severed. The paramedics used a defibrillator to revive him before rushing him to the hospital.

They saved his life — he was in a coma for a month — but couldn’t save his left leg, which was amputated above the knee.

His brother, who went by Sven, was a volunteer at an adaptive sports program at Mount Snow in Vermont.

Sven urged his twin to give Para-skiing a try. Halgren listened — eventually.

First, though, wheelchair basketball. He didn't want to risk hurting his other leg. But as he got stronger, his desire to give skiing a try returned.

“Patrick got off the chairlift, goes to make a turn and he fell right over,” his dad recalled. "He’s a proud kid. He’s not happy. I said, ‘Pat, go down the hill, get some speed behind you, and let the skis do the work.’

“By the end of the day, he turned to me and said, ‘Dad, I’m going to be the best one-legged skier in the world.’ He’s on his way.”

Being in Cortina, for his second Paralympics, Halgren can't help but think about what his brother would make of all this. Sven, a glacier guide in New Zealand, died in December 2016 from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle crash.

“He wouldn't be surprised at all,” said Halgren, who competed in the slalom and giant slalom at the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. “He’d be just as excited as me, if not more."

As for medals: "We told him, ‘We don’t care about medals. Our hearts are so happy that we’re just here with you,'” his mom said.

And Sven.

Halgren carries the spirit of Sven in his heart at all times. The stickers are just another way to bring his brother along for the ride.

The “SvendIt” decals were the idea of a friend. They’re now plastered in spots all over the world, from Norway to Sweden to the top of a weather station in Colorado. And now, in the bathroom of an Italian restaurant.

“Basically, if you’re going to do something, you've just got to go for it,” Halgren explained. “Go have some fun and live your life. Have something to talk about later."

AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games

FILE - Patrick Halgren of the United States reacts after competing in the men's slalom, standing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, file)

FILE - Patrick Halgren of the United States reacts after competing in the men's slalom, standing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, file)

FILE - Patrick Halgren of the United States competes in the men's slalom, standing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, file)

FILE - Patrick Halgren of the United States competes in the men's slalom, standing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, file)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Intense Iranian fire targeted the Gulf Arab states early Saturday as Israel and the United States kept up their airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic.

There was no foreseeable end to the fighting. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration approved a new $151 million arms sale to Israel after Trump said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender” and U.S. officials warned of a forthcoming bombing campaign they said would be the most intense yet in the weeklong conflict.

Iran's U.N. ambassador said the country would “take all necessary measures” to defend itself.

Associated Press video showed explosions flashing and smoke rising over western Tehran as Israel said it had begun a broad wave of strikes. Also early Saturday, loud booms sounded in Jerusalem and incoming missiles from Iran had people heading to bomb shelters across Israel.

There were no immediate reports of casualties by Israel’s emergency services.

In a sign of the widening nature of the conflict, sirens sounded early Saturday in Bahrain as Iranian attacks targeted the island kingdom. And Saudi Arabia said it destroyed drones headed toward its vast Shaybah oil field and shot down a ballistic missile launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces.

The U.S. and Israel have battered Iran with strikes, targeting its military capabilities, leadership and nuclear program. The stated goals and timelines for the war have repeatedly shifted, as the U.S. has at times suggested it seeks to topple Iran’s government or elevate new leadership from within.

Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, warned in an interview with the Financial Times that the war could “bring down the economies of the world,” predicting a widespread shutdown of Gulf energy exports that could send oil to $150 a barrel.

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose above $90 on Friday for the first time in more than two years.

Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, according to two officials familiar with U.S. intelligence on the matter.

The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that the U.S. intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is directing Iran on what to do with the information.

Still, it’s the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war.

In a social media post Friday, Trump said “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" After a surrender, “and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s),” he wrote, the U.S. and its allies will help rebuild Iran, making it “economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”

Those comments were likely to raise further questions about the endgame of the war. The fighting has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. Six U.S. troops have been killed.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that “some countries” had begun mediation efforts, without elaborating.

Iranian state television reported Friday that a leadership council had started discussing how to convene the country’s Assembly of Experts, which will select the new supreme leader.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a television interview on Friday that the “biggest bombing campaign” of the war was still to come.

Israel has said that over the past week it has heavily bombed an extensive underground bunker that Iranian leaders had planned to use during the hostilities.

New information surfaced suggesting that a deadly Feb. 28 explosion at a school in the Iranian city of Minab, some 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) southeast of Tehran, was likely caused by U.S. airstrikes. The information included satellite images, expert analysis, a U.S. official and public information released by U.S. and Israeli military forces.

Iranian state media has said more than 165 people were killed in the blast, most of them of children.

Iran has blamed Israel and the U.S. for the explosion. Neither country has accepted responsibility, though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the U.S. is investigating.

The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with an Israeli force that landed late Friday in the mountains of eastern Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least three people were killed.

Israel did not acknowledge the fighting, and its military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel has carried out waves of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a large presence but which is also home to hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said at least 217 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since Monday and 798 wounded.

Roads in the Lebanese capital were choked with evacuating traffic as smoke rose over the city’s southern districts. Two hospitals evacuated patients and staff.

“What can we do? We prayed here under the tree. During the night, we slept in the car because there is no place to stay,” Jihan Shehadeh, one of the tens of thousands of displaced, said.

Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, Rising from Bangkok and Abou AlJoud from Beirut. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed.

Women hold Iranian flags and pictures of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as government supporters march against the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign after Friday prayers at the Imam Khomeini Grand mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Shiite Muslims shout slogans as they burn effigies of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Budgam, northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Iranians attend Friday prayers in the courtyard of the Imam Khomeini Grand mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli soldiers work on tanks at a staging area in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)