By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Three days of intense high speed skiing have come to an end at Beijing 2022 and a contingent of our Para-alpine stars who have yet to compete at the Games are gearing up to make their mark in the Slalom events.
Those who will start the campaign in the second half of the Games are PyeongChang 2018 dual bronze medallist Melissa Perrine and sighted guide Bobbi Kelly, along with dual summer and winter Paralympian Rae Anderson and Games first-timer Josh Hanlon.
However, for Mitch Gourley and Patrick Jensen, the two skiers on Australia’s Paralympic Winter Team with a full program, day four means one thing: rest.
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Speed events are challenging mentally as much as physically. Perching at the top of a steep incline, knowing you’re about to hurl down it at a speed where one mistake could leave you very sore and sorry, takes a lot of mental strength.
The challenge of the speed events was enhanced when organisers brought forward the Super Combined by a day due to warming weather, meaning three consecutive days of speed racing for Gourley, Jensen and Jensen’s guide, Amelia Hodgson. Sam Tait had been in the same boat but dropped Super Combined from his program. The Super Combined is a test of speed and finesse, including one run of Super-G on the speed hill and one run of Slalom on the technical hill.
Jensen and Hodgson had been placed seventh after the Super-G part of the Men’s Super Combined Vision Impaired on Monday, but did not finish the Slalom.
In the Men’s Super Combined Standing, Gourley finished 13th out of 36 racers, 9.0 seconds off the pace of gold medallist Arthur Bauchet of France.
“I made a big mistake on the flat up top so it cost me a lot of time,” he said after his slalom run.
“But overall I’m happy with the approach. Obviously, there were some things that could be cleaned up but yeah, the brain was in the right place heading into it, as much as it could be after a long stint on a pretty tough speed hill for me.”
Para-alpine skiing now pauses for two days.
“I’ve got some time to get some energy back in the legs and really attack the GS [Giant Slalom] down here,” he said. “I reckon this is a great hill for GS and I’m glad to get a slalom run under my belt. I’ve won plenty of World Cup slalom runs so why can’t I win this?
“I’m going to put my feet up tomorrow, that’s for sure. It’s been a very big schedule so far. Then maybe do some GS training the next day. We’ll have a look at the weather and how the energy is going.”
The men’s Giant Slalom Sitting, Standing and Vision Impaired categories start on Thursday at 1pm AEST, followed by the women’s events in the corresponding categories the next day.
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