Australia at The Winter Olympics - Australia at The Winter Paralympics

Australia At The Winter Paralympics

Australia has competed in every Winter Paralympics since the inaugural games in 1976. Their sole participant in 1976 was Ron Finneran, although he was not an official entrant. In 1980, alpine and cross-country skier Kyrra Grunnsund and cross-country skier Peter Rickards became the first official competitors for Australia. 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 medals in 1992—one gold, one silver and two bronze. Michael Milton, an amputee alpine skier, won gold in the slalom and silver in the super-G. In paraplegic sit-skiing, David Munk won bronze in the super-G, and Michael Norton won bronze in the downhill. In 1994, Australia won three gold, two silver and four bronze medals. Milton won gold in the giant slalom, silver in the slalom and bronze in the downhill and super-G, and Norton won gold in the slalom and super-G. James Patterson, a skier with cerebral palsy, won silver in the downhill and bronze in the giant slalom. Munk won another bronze, this time in the giant slalom. In 1998, Australia won two medals, both through Paterson: gold in the downhill and bronze in the slalom.

In 2002, Australia's medal count consisted of six golds and one silver. Milton swept his disability class, 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, Emily Jansen, a leg amputee alpine skier, became Australia first female Winter Paralympian. James Millar, 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, but did not win a medal. A target of two medals was set, which took into account the merging of several disability classes. Australia met this target, as Milton won silver in the downhill and Toby Kane won bronze in the super-G. In 2010, Australia won a silver and three bronze, all in alpine skiing. Jessica Gallagher became the first Australian woman to win a medal, taking bronze in the slalom for the visually impaired. Cameron Rahles Rabula won bronze in both the slalom and super combined.