Alpine skiing at the Winter Paralympics

Alpine skiing at the Winter Paralympics
Alpine skiing at the Winter Paralympics
Governing body	WA
Events	30 (men: 15; women: 15)
Games
	1976 ; 1980 ; 1984 ; 1988 ; 1992 ; 1994 ; 1998 ; 2002 ; 2006 ; 2010 ; 2014 ; 2018 ; 2022 ;
	Medalists ;

Last updated August 20, 2023

Paralympic alpine skiing has been competed at the Winter Paralympic Games since they were first held in 1976. Events include men's and women's downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and combined.

Summary

Games	Year	Events	Best Nation
1	1976	28	Switzerland
2	1980	22	Austria
3	1984	56	Austria
4	1988	43	Austria
5	1992	48	United States
6	1994	66	United States
7	1998	54	United States
8	2002	53	United States
9	2006	24	Germany
10	2010	30	Germany
11	2014	30	Russia
12	2018	30	Slovakia
13	2022	30	Austria

Events

^[3]^[4]^[5]

Event	Class	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	Years
Men's combined	Standing	•••• •		•••• •••							•	•		4
	Visually impaired			••							•	•		3
	Sitting										•	•		2
Men's downhill	Standing			•••• •••	•••• •••	••••	•••• ••	••••	••••	•	•	•		9
	Visually impaired			••	•••		••	••	•	•	•	•		8
	Sitting					••	•••	••	•••	•	•	•		7
Men's slalom	Standing	•••• •	•••• ••	•••• •••	•••• •••	••••	•••• ••	•••• •	••••	•	•	•		11
	Visually impaired						••	••	••	•	•	•		6
	Sitting				•	••	•••	••	•••	•	•	•		8
Men's giant slalom	Standing	•••• •	•••• ••	•••• •••	•••• •••	••••	•••• ••	•••• •	••••	•	•	•		11
	Visually impaired			••	•••	•••	•••	••	••	•	•	•		9
	Sitting				•	••	•••	••	•••	•	•	•		8
Men's Super-G	Standing					••••	•••• ••	•••• •	••••	•	•	•		7
	Visually impaired					•••	•••	••	•	•	•	•		7
	Sitting					••	•••	••	•••	•	•	•		7
Women's combined	Standing	••••		••••							•	•		4
	Visually impaired			••							•	•		3
	Sitting										•	•		2
Women's downhill	Standing			••••	•••	•••	•••	••	••	•	•	•		9
	Visually impaired			••	••		•	•	•	•	•	•		8
	Sitting					•	•	•	•	•	•	•		7
Women's slalom	Standing	••••	•••• •	••••	•••	•••	•••	••	•••	•	•	•		11
	Visually impaired						•	••	•	•	•	•		6
	Sitting				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		8
Women's giant slalom	Standing	•••• •	•••• •	••••	•••	•••	•••	••	•••	•	•	•		11
	Visually impaired			••	••	•	•	••	•	•	•	•		9
	Sitting				•	•	•	•	••	•	•	•		8
Women's Super-G	Standing					•••	•••	••	••	•	•	•		7
	Visually impaired					•	•	••	•	•	•	•		7
	Sitting					•	•	•	•	•	•	•		7

Total Events		28	22	56	44	48	66	54	53	24	30	30	30

Medal table

^[6] NPCs in italics no longer compete at the Winter Paralympics

As of 2022 Winter Paralympics


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Austria (AUT)	95	92	89	276
2	United States (USA)	92	97	70	259
3	Germany (GER)	83	61	50	194
4	Switzerland (SUI)	45	39	25	109
5	France (FRA)	42	42	36	120
6	Canada (CAN)	27	39	49	115
7	Slovakia (SVK)	18	18	21	57
8	New Zealand (NZL)	17	7	10	34
9	Spain (ESP)	15	14	10	39
10	Italy (ITA)	12	20	22	54
11	Sweden (SWE)	12	12	10	34
12	Japan (JPN)	11	15	21	47
13	Australia (AUS)	11	6	15	32
14	Norway (NOR)	9	5	2	16
15	Russia (RUS)	8	6	7	21
16	Czech Republic (CZE)	5	5	5	15
17	Great Britain (GBR)	3	9	15	27
18	China (CHN)	3	9	7	19
19	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	3	4	1	8
20	Netherlands (NED)	2	3	1	6
21	Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPA)	1	1	2	4
22	Finland (FIN)	1	1	0	2
23	Croatia (CRO)	1	0	0	1
24	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	0	1
24	South Korea (KOR)	0	1	0	1
26	Poland (POL)	0	0	8	8
27	Belgium (BEL)	0	0	2	2
28	Liechtenstein (LIE)	0	0	1	1
28	Yugoslavia (YUG)	0	0	1	1
Totals (29 entries)		516	507	480	1503

Multiple medalists

The table shows athletes with either 6 or more gold medals or ten or more total medals.^[7]

Athlete	Nation	Paralympics	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Gerd Schönfelder	Germany (GER)	1992–2010	16	4	2	22
Reinhild Moeller	West Germany (FRG) / Germany (GER)	1980–2006	16	2	1	19
Rolf Heinzmann	Switzerland (SUI)	1980–2002	12	2	0	14
Hans Burn	Switzerland (SUI)	1988–2002	6	5	3	14
Sarah Will	United States (USA)	1992–2002	12	1	0	13
Sarah Billmeier	United States (USA)	1992–2002	7	5	1	13
Lana Spreeman	Canada (CAN)	1980–1994	1	6	6	13
Martin Braxenthaler	Germany (GER)	1998–2010	10	1	1	12
Henrieta Farkašová	Slovakia (SVK)	2010–2018	9	2	1	12
Greg Mannino	United States (USA)	1988–1998	6	4	2	12
Chris Waddell	United States (USA)	1992–2002	5	5	2	12
Bruno Oberhammer	Italy (ITA)	1984–1998	3	5	4	12
Markus Pfefferle	West Germany (FRG) / Germany (GER)	1988–2002	1	8	3	12
Bernard Baudean	France (FRA)	1976–1994	6	4	1	11
Michael Milton	Australia (AUS)	1992–2006	6	3	2	11
Alexander Spitz	West Germany (FRG) / Germany (GER)	1984–1994	4	4	3	11
Pascale Casanova	France (FRA)	1998–2006	3	6	2	11
Lauren Woolstencroft	Canada (CAN)	2002–2010	8	1	1	10
Tristan Mouric	France (FRA)	1984–1994	6	3	1	10
Rik Heid	United States (USA)	1988–1994	2	5	3	10
Kuniko Obinata	Japan (JPN)	1998–2010	2	3	5	10
Nancy Gustafson	United States (USA)	1988–1994	7	1	0	8
Josef Meusburger	Austria (AUT)	1976–1988	6	2	0	8
Cato Zahl Pedersen	Norway (NOR)	1980–1994	6	1	0	7
Brian Santos	United States (USA)	1992–1994	6	0	0	6

Nations

Related Research Articles

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.

Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the International Paralympic Committee Sports Committee. The primary equipment used includes outrigger skis, sit-skis, and mono-skis. Para-alpine skiing disciplines include the Downhill, Super-G, Giant slalom, Slalom, Super Combined and Snowboard.

The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter Olympic Games and hosted in the same city. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) oversees the Games. Medals are awarded in each event: with gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games began in 1904.

Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 except for the 1976 Winter Paralympics.

Toby Kane is an Australian Paralympian who won a bronze medal in the men's super G Standing at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino and a bronze medal in the men's super G standing in his third Winter Paralympics at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. Invited to join the Australian Winter Paralympic Development team when he was just 11, he became the youngest member of the Australian team in Torino at the age of 19. He had the honour of being Australia's flag bearer at the closing ceremony in Torino, and at the opening ceremony in Vancouver. Towards the end of the Sochi Games, Kane and Dutch snowboarder Bibian Mentel-Spee were named winners of the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award, which is presented at every Paralympic Games for outstanding performances and overcoming adversity.

Cross-country skiing has been contested at the Winter Paralympic Games since the first Winter Games in 1976.

The 1998 Winter Paralympics were held in Nagano, Japan from 5–14 March 1998. At the Games, Australia was represented by four male alpine skiers. Australia tied for 16th place with Denmark, out of 21 Nations on the overall medal tally. James Patterson, an LW9 standing skier, won Australia's two medals - one gold and one bronze.

Following the success of the first ever 1976 Winter Paralympics in Örnsköldsvik four years earlier, Norway was selected to host the Paralympic Games in 1980.

Australia sent a delegation to compete at the 1988 Winter Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria, which was held between 17–24 January 1988. This marked the nation's fourth appearance at the Winter Paralympics. The delegation sent a group of five alpine skiers as they wouldn't get a medal in these games.

Australia competed at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States from 8 March to 19 March 2002. The Salt Lake Paralympics are the eighth such winter games, the first Winter Paralympics ever in North America and the first Winter Paralympics ever set up by an Olympic organizing committee. Although many of the Paralympic expenses were covered by dual planning with the Olympics, organizers still spent about $60 million on the Paralympics, including $5 million on the opening and closing ceremonies. The Salt Lake Games featured 92 events across four sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country, and ice sledge hockey. The 36 competing countries sent a total of 416 participants. Australia was represented by six male alpine skiers: Peter Boonaerts, Bart Bunting, Michael Milton, Scott Adams, Cameron Rahles-Rahbula, and Mark Drinnan. The medal haul was seven, consisting of six gold and one silver. Australia finished 8th overall in the gold and total medal count, making it the country's most successful Winter Games in terms of gold medals.

Cameron Rahles-Rahbula is a former Paralympic alpine skier from Australia. He won two bronze medals at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver. He represented Australia in four Paralympics, stating with the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City and the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino. He did not compete in any events at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi due to knee and ankle injuries sustained during the warm up for the downhill event of the Games but carried the Australian flag in the Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony. He also won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2004 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Wildschönau, Austria, and a gold and a bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships in Jeongseon, Korea. He retired after the Sochi Games.

LW12 is a para-Alpine and para-Nordic sit skiing sport class defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). An LW12 skier needs to meet a minimum of one of several conditions including a single below knee but above ankle amputation, monoplegia that exhibits similar to below knee amputation, legs of different length where there is at least a 7 centimetres difference, combined muscle strength in the lower extremities less than 71. For international competitions, classification is done through IPC Alpine Skiing or IPC Nordic Skiing. For sub-international competitions, classification is done by a national federation such as Alpine Canada. For para-Alpine, this class is subdivided into two subclasses.: LW12.1 and LW12.2. A new sit-skier competitor with only national classification will compete as LW12.2 in international competitions until they have been internationally classified.

LW5/7 is a standing para-Alpine and para-Nordic skiing classification for skiers with upper extremity issues in both limbs that may include double amputation of both arms and hands or dysmelia of the upper limbs. The class has three subclasses defined by the location of the disability on the upper extremities. International classification is done by IPC Alpine Skiing and IPC Nordic Skiing. On the national level, classification is handled by national sports federation such as Cross-Country Canada.

LW6/8 is a para-Alpine and para-Nordic standing skiing sport class, a classification defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for people with an upper extremity issue who have paralysis, motor paresis affecting one arm, a single upper arm amputation or CP8 classified cerebral palsy. LW6/8 skiers use two skis and one pole in both para-Alpine and para-Nordic skiing.

Mitchell Gourley is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier who competed for Australia in the downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super combined events at four Winter Paralympics - 2010 to 2022. He was Australian team co-captain with Joany Badenhorst at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. At the 2022 Winter Paralympics, he and Melissa Perrine carried the Australian flag in the opening ceremony. At the 2017 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy he won the gold medal in the Men's Super Combined Standing.

Victoria "Tori" Pendergast is an Australian F58 athletics shot put competitor and LW12.1 classified Para-alpine skier. When she competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, she became Australia's first female sit skier at the Winter Paralympics. She competed in two events, finishing seventh in women's slalom sit-ski and tenth in the women's giant slalom sit-ski. She also won a silver and a bronze medal in the slalom and super-G at the 2013 North America Cup, and a bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 2013 IPC World Cup in Thredbo.

Anna Katharina Schaffelhuber is a German para-alpine skier. At the 2014 Winter Paralympics she won five gold medals, becoming only the second athlete to sweep the alpine skiing events.

Marie Bochet is a French alpine skier and Paralympic Champion.

References

↑ IPC Alpine Skiing Reduces Racing Classes to Three Categories, International Paralympic Committee (IPC), November 3, 2004
↑ Levelling the playing field, canada.com, March 10, 2010
↑ IPC Historical Results Database, International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
↑ Paralympic Winter Sports Programme Build-Up Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine , The Paralympian, No. 1/2002
↑ Team handbook and guide Archived 2011-06-09 at the Wayback Machine , British Paralympic Association, February 10, 2010
↑ IPC Historical Results Database - Athlete Search - Search by Sport, International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
↑ "All-Time Paralympic Winter Games Multi-Medallists - Alpine Skiing". IPC . Retrieved 12 March 2018.

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[1] IPC Alpine Skiing Reduces Racing Classes to Three Categories, International Paralympic Committee (IPC), November 3, 2004

[2] Levelling the playing field, canada.com, March 10, 2010

[3] IPC Historical Results Database, International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

[4] Paralympic Winter Sports Programme Build-Up Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine , The Paralympian, No. 1/2002

[5] Team handbook and guide Archived 2011-06-09 at the Wayback Machine , British Paralympic Association, February 10, 2010

[6] IPC Historical Results Database - Athlete Search - Search by Sport, International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

[7] "All-Time Paralympic Winter Games Multi-Medallists - Alpine Skiing". IPC . Retrieved 12 March 2018.

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v t e Sports at the Paralympic Games
Summer sports	Archery Athletics Badminton Boccia Cycling Equestrian Football 5-a-side Goalball Judo Paracanoe Paratriathlon Parataekwondo Powerlifting Rowing Shooting Swimming Table tennis Volleyball Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair tennis
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