Australia at the Winter Paralympics

rdf:langString Australia at the Winter Paralympics

rdf:langString Paralympics

rdf:langString Australia has competed in every Winter Paralympics. In 1976, the first Games, Australia's sole competitor was Ron Finneran, but he was not an official entrant. In 1980, Kyrra Grunnsund and Peter Rickards became the first official competitors, in alpine and cross-country skiing. The number of Australian athletes increased to three, five, five and six at the next four games, respectively, and all of the athletes were alpine skiers. The participation decreased to four in 1998 and climbed back up to six in 2002. Australia won its first Winter Paralympic medals in 1992, and has medalled at every games since then. All of the medals have been won in alpine skiing. Australia won four Winter Paralympic medals in 1992—one gold, a silver and two bronze. Michael Milton, an amputee alpine skier, won gold in slalom and silver in super-G. David Munk, a paraplegic sit-skier, won bronze in super-G. Michael Norton, a paraplegic sit-skier, won bronze in the downhill. In 1994, Australia won nine medals, three gold, two silver and four bronze. Milton won gold in the giant slalom, silver in slalom and bronze in downhill and super-G. Norton won gold in the slalom and super-G. James Patterson, a skier with cerebral palsy, won silver in downhill and bronze in giant slalom. Munk won bronze in giant slalom. Different disabilities have separate events, which is why Patterson and Munk both won bronze in giant slalom. In 1998, two medals were won, both by Paterson: gold in downhill and bronze in slalom. In 2002, the medal haul was seven, consisting of six gold and one silver. Milton made a clean sweep, winning gold in the downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. Bart Bunting, a vision-impaired skier guided by Nathan Chivers, won gold in the downhill and super-G, and silver in the giant slalom. In 2006, Australia sent its first female Winter Paralympian, Emily Jansen, a below-knee amputee alpine skier. James Millar, who was born without his right forearm, competed in the cross-country and the biathlon, becoming the first Australian to compete in an event outside alpine skiing. Milton attended his last Paralympics. A target of two medals was set, which took into account the consolidation of disability classes. Australia met this target, with Milton winning silver in the downhill and Toby Kane winning bronze in super-G. At the 2010 Vancouver Games, Jessica Gallagher became the first female Australian Paralympian to win a medal with a bronze medal in the Women's Vision-Impaired Slalom event.

rdf:langString AUS