Australia at the 2010 Winter Paralympics

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Australia at the
2010 Winter Paralympics
Flag of Australia.svg
IPC code AUS
NPC Australian Paralympic Committee
Website www.paralympic.org.au
in Vancouver
Competitors11 in 2 sports
Flag bearer Toby Kane (Opening) [1] Cameron Rahles-Rahbula (Closing) [2]
Officials15
Medals
Ranked 16th
Gold
0
Silver
1
Bronze
3
Total
4
Winter Paralympics appearances (overview)

At the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, [3] Australia sent 11 athletes to compete against the other participating 42 nations. The delegation consisted of 3 sighted guides and 17 support staff. This was the largest delegation Australia had sent to a Winter Paralympics. Australia has participated in every winter Paralympics since its conception.

Contents

In 2010, Dominic Monypenny became the fourth Australian athlete to participate in both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, the others being Kyrra Grunnsund, Anthony Bonaccurso, and Michael Milton. [4] In the lead-up to the 2010 winter Games, nine of the 11 Australian athletes had recorded top 10 finishes in Paralympic, world cup or world championship competitions in their class.

Due to the number of competitors (502 in total), the 2010 Winter Paralympics marked the largest of its kind, following the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics in which only 39 countries took part. [5] Of the participating nations, 2010 was the first winter paralympics for Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania, Russian Federation, and Serbia. [5]

Disability classification

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; and les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis. [6] [7] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Events with "B" in the code are for athletes with visual impairment, codes LW1 to LW9 are for athletes who stand to compete and LW10 to LW12 are for athletes who compete sitting down. For the 2010 Paralympics alpine skiing events grouped athletes into sitting, standing and visually impaired categories. [8] The same three classifications are also used to group competitors in cross-country skiing. [9]

Athlete classifications

Andrew Bor (guide) and Melissa Perrine, 2010 Australian Paralympic Team Athlete, at the Vancouver Paralympic Winter Games. G Andrew Bor SL01 cropped.jpg
Andrew Bor (guide) and Melissa Perrine, 2010 Australian Paralympic Team Athlete, at the Vancouver Paralympic Winter Games.

Of the 11 competitors that competed at the 2010 Paralympics, classifications varied:

AthleteClassificationCongenital or Acquired
Melissa Perrine

Andrew Bor (Guide)

B2Congenital
Jessica Gallagher

Eric Bickerton (Guide)

B3Congenital
Bart Bunting B1Congenital
Shannon Dallas LW11 (Sitting Class)Acquired (workplace accident)
Mitchell Gourley LW6/8 (Standing Class)Congenital
Toby Kane LW2 (Standing Class)Acquired (Car accident)
Marty Mayberry LW3 (Standing Class)Acquired (Meningococcal)
James MillarLW8 (Standing Class)Congenital
Dominic Monypenny LW12 (Sitting Class)Acquired (Fall)
Cameron Rahles-Rahbula LW2 (Standing Class)Acquired (Cancer)
Nicholas WattsLW2 (Standing Class)Acquired (Cancer)

Administration

Team officials were:

Sponsorship, fundraising and media

The sponsorship and fundraising program originally enabled the Australian Paralympic Committee to extend its ability to fund the Australian team. Estimated costs were believed to amount to approximately 1.25 million in 2010, $9 million in 2012 and $1.6 million in 2014) allowing for support and funding of sports programs and administration costs. [10] The games were broadcast to the Australian public through the ABC broadcast network through daily highlight coverage through the ABC1 channel across the ten days of competition. [10]

Medals and Medalists

While Australia did not achieve medal tallies as extensive as those achieved by strong winter sport countries, the small team achieved one silver (Marty Mayberry) and three bronze (Cameron Rahles-Rahbula x2, Jessica Gallagher) medals, doubling their medal tally from Torino in 2006. [11] Of these medalists Jessica Gallagher was the first Australian woman to win a Paralympic Winter medal. Unlike previous games, the medals did not resemble the traditional rounded shape but rather that of a square with rounded edges with a wave-like design running through the medals. [12] No two medals were designed the same making every individual medal unique to each athlete. [12] The design of each medal was inspired by First Nations imagery featuring the emblem of the Games along wt the IPC's logo. Written on each medal was 'Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in French and English as well as 'Vancouver 2010' in Braille. [12]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Germany Flag of Germany.svg 135624
2Russia Flag of Russia.svg 12161038
3Canada Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg 105419
4Slovakia Flag of Slovakia.svg 62311
5Ukraine Flag of Ukraine.svg 58619
16Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg 0134
MedalNameSportEventDate
Silver medal icon.svg Silver Marty Mayberry Alpine Skiing Men's Downhill – Standing 18 March
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze Jessica Gallagher
Eric Bickerton (Guide)
Alpine Skiing Women's slalom – visually impaired 14 March
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze Cameron Rahles-Rahbula Alpine Skiing Men's slalom – standing 15 March
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze Cameron Rahles-Rahbula Alpine Skiing Men's super combined – standing 20 March

Mascot

When presented with their medals, each Australian medalist received a small version of the games mascot Sumi meaning guardian spirit. An animal spirit who was believed to live in the mountains of British Columbia. Sumi is the shape of a bear wearing the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the thunderbird and runs on the furry legs of the black bear. [5]

The Australian team carried their own mascot throughout the games (boxing kangaroo). This mascot has a long history in Australian teams both able and disabled bodies. First used by the successful America's Cup winners, [13] the mascot represents the "Australian fighting spirit" provides self-confidence to many of the competing athletes. [13] Nicknamed "BK", [13] the boxing kangaroo represents and individual is "not lout, nor is he aggressive or arrogant. He is however, assertive when it comes to defending his country's glory [13] ". This beloved mascot was commonly used by spectators to show their support for the Australian athletes at events in which Australian's competed. Flags of the mascot are also commonly hung by athletes out of their accommodation windows and over railings to demonstrate national and team pride. Use of the boxing kangaroo mascot at the 2010 winter Paralympics was shrouded in controversy due to earlier disagreement between the Australian Winter Olympic able bodied team and the International Olympic Committee when a two story high flag of the beloved mascot draped over a balcony in the athlete's village was declared to be "too commercial" by the IOC. [14] After, widespread criticism against the IOC in regards to their decision in requesting the flag be removed, after a meeting between the IOC and Australian Olympic Committee resulted in the decision that the flag could stay. [14]

The logo of the 2010 Winter Paralympics was described as "representing the spirit of the host region, the athletes journey and the harmony that exists between the athlete, their sport and environment". [5] The emblem of the Paralympic logo aimed to reflect "the athlete's mountainous inner strength and personal transformation as they pushed themselves to new heights in the pursuit of excellence". [5] Through the depicted aspects of the "valley, mountain and sun of the west coast' [5] a human form is created. The overall design is therefore aimed at being homage to the 'harmonious relationship by suggesting that the athlete and mountains are one". [5]

Events

Of the already offered events of Alpine, Ice Sledge Hockey, Biathlon, Cross Country and Wheelchair Curling, the Alpine Skiing Super Combined event was added to the Paralympic Programme. [5] Of the events offered Australia only competed in two: Alpine skiing and Cross-country.

Alpine skiing

Women
AthleteEventFinal
Run 1Run 2Total TimeRank
Jessica Gallagher
Eric Bickerton (Guide)
Slalom visually impaired 57.5756.832:04.35Bronze medal icon.svg
Giant slalom visually impaired 1:41.241:43.403:24.647
Melissa Perrine
Andy Bor (Guide)
Downhill visually impaired 1:33.305
Slalom visually impaired 1.09.561.12.922.22.478
Giant slalom visually impaired 1:37.57DNF
Super-G visually impaired 1:46.357
Super combined visually impaired DNFdid not advance
Men
AthleteEventFinal
Run 1Run 2Total TimeRank
Bart Bunting
Nathan Chivers (Guide)
Downhill visually impaired DNF
Giant slalom visually impaired 1:28.85DNS
Shannon Dallas Downhill sitting DNS
Slalom sitting 56.861:00.791:57.6517
Giant slalom sitting 1:23.101:26.422:49.526
Super-G sitting 1:25.2111
Super combined sitting 1:25.21DNF
Mitchell Gourley Slalom standing 1:00.9258.081:59.0027
Giant slalom standing 1:15.761:17.272:33.0312
Super-G standing 1:25.3810
Toby Kane Downhill standing 1:25.2610
Slalom standing 56.2854.701:50.9811
Giant slalom standing 1:15.501:15.532:31.0310
Super-G standing DNF
Super combined standing DNFdid not advance
Marty Mayberry Downhill standing 1:22.78TSilver medal icon.svg
Slalom standing DSQdid not advance
Giant slalom standing DNFdid not advance
Super-G standing 1:30.5024
Cameron Rahles-Rahbula Downhill standing 1:22.884
Slalom standing 53.0854.611:47.69Bronze medal icon.svg
Giant slalom standing 1:13.731:15.342:29.076
Super-G standing 1:22.655
Super combined standing 1:25.1948.342:13.85Bronze medal icon.svg
Nicholas Watts Slalom standing 1:10.80DNF
Giant slalom standing 1:35.291:48.483:23.7735
Super-G standing 1:47.8433

Cross-country skiing

AthleteEventFactor %QualificationSemifinalFinal
Real TimeResultRankResultRankReal TimeResultRank
James Millar 1km sprint classic, standing 3:47.9722did not qualify22
10km classic, standing 33:12.722
20km free, standing 1:02:33.518
Dominic Monypenny 1km sprint classic, sitting 2:27.6026did not qualify26
10km classic, sitting 30:26.722
15km free, sitting 44:55.717

See also

References

  1. "Flagbearers from Opening Ceremony" (PDF). IPC. 12 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2010.
  2. "Rahles-Rahbula flag-bearer". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 21 March 2010. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  3. Athletes: Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympics Archived 25 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine , The Official Website of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
  4. Australian Paralympic Committee Media Guide PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Brittain, Ian (2014). From Stoke Mandeville to Sochi: A History of the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. Champaign: Common Ground Publishing. pp. 257–264 via eBook Collection.
  6. "Paralympics categories explained". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  7. "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  8. "Sport Profiles, Alpine Skiing". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  9. "Sport Profiles; Cross Country Skiing". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 Australian Paralympic Committee Media Guide Vancouver 12–21 March 2010 (PDF). Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2012.
  11. "Racing History". Disabled Winter Sports. Disabled Wintersport Australia. 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 "Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Medals- Official Photos & History". Official Website of the Paralympic Movement. International Paralympic Committee. 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Team Mascot- the Boxing Kangaroo". Australian Olympic Winter Team. Australian Olympic Committee. 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Decision on boxing kangaroo 'ridiculous'". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.