Australia at the 1998 Winter Paralympics

The Team

Members of the 1998 Australian Winter Paralympic Team were nominated after a series of training camps and competition at the Disabled WinterSport Australia Nationals held in Mt Hotham, Victoria. The team originally consisted of six alpine skiers.

The team was supported by national head coach Steve Bova and managed by Commander Adrian Pay (RAN).

Games Preparation

The Australian's began their team training in unsympathetic Australian ski conditions. Once the Australian ski fields proved inadequate for training the team travelled to the northern hemisphere where they spent a significant amount of time training and acclimatising prior to the Nagano Paralympics.

Withdrawals

It was during this time that both Rod Hacon and David Munk were forced to withdraw from the Australian team. Munk became seriously ill with a kidney infection and Hacon suffered an freak accident, whilst carrying his ski, severely damaging his hand. The injury required surgery and ongoing treatment. Consequently both experienced Paralympic campaigners withdrew from the team prior to the Games. This was a significant blow for the Australian team as they lost two of their most experienced Paralympians who were both well placed to medal at the Games. James Patterson was the only athlete left in the team with previous Paralympics experience. The Australian Winter Paralympic team was reduced to only four athletes, three of whom who'd never before competed at a Winter Paralympics.

James Patterson performed strongly in the blue-ribbon event, the Men's Downhill and eclipsed the opposition, beating New Zealander Mathew Butson to the gold medal by over a second. After two bad races in the Giant Slalom and Super G, Patterson fought back to claim bronze in the Slalom LW9.

Alpine skiing

Medal Table

Australia finished equal 16th (with Denmark) of 21 Nations on the overall medal table. This was lower than the previous two Winter Paralympic games. Australia finished ninth on the table in Lillehammer four years prior (nine medals - three gold, two silver and four bronze) and twelfth in Albertville in 1992 (four medals - one gold, one silver and two bronze).

Impact

At the conclusion of the games, the Australian Paralympic Committee developed a plan to improve Australia's medal count at the Winter Paralympic Games. The entire winter program was reviewed resulting in a focus on talent identification, continuity of coaching and ongoing, well structured training . A year-round training program was developed to improve physical conditioning for skiing athletes. Funding was secured from the Australian Paralympic Committee, the Australian Sports Commission, and the New South Wales Department of Sport and Recreation.

Ron Finneran of WinterSport Australia did a major push to help insure the success of this program. He helped to bring Perisher Blue and Thredbo, two Australian ski resorts, on board to provide training venues, access and support to Australian Paralympic skiers.