 Bobbi Kelly in April 2021 | ||||||
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  Australia | |||||
| Born | 6 February 1994 | |||||
| Sport | ||||||
| Country | Australia | |||||
| Sport | Para-alpine skiing | |||||
| Event | Giant slalom slalom | |||||
Medal record
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Bobbi Kelly (born 6 February 1994) is an Australian skier and sighted guide for visually impaired skiers. [1] She was Melissa Perrine's guide at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. [2]
Kelly's home ski resort of Perisher, New South Wales. She has a Level 4 Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors Inc (APSI) and is a Level 1/2 Trainer for APSI. [3]
Kelly is the guide for Paralympic skier Melissa Perrine. Perrine with Kelly won the gold medal in the women's Super Combined Visually Impaired, silver medals in the women's giant slalom and Women's Super G Visually Impaired and the bronze medal in the women's slalom visually impaired at 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. [1]
In 2020, Kelly was a participant in the Australian Institute of Sport Talent Program, a program to place more women in leadership positions in Australian Sport. [4]
At the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Melissa Perrine with her guide Kelly, she finished sixth in the women's giant slalom visually impaired and failed to finish the second run in the women's slalom visually impaired. [5]
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 alpine skiing competition of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics will be held at Whistler, British Columbia. The events were due to be held between 13 March, and 21 March 2010. Events scheduled for 13 March, however, were postponed due to weather conditions – specifically, low visibility. The snowboard cross event was a demonstration sport until 2014.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed at the 2010 Winter Paralympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The team was known by it shortened name of Great Britain, for identification purposes.
The 1984 Winter Paralympics, then known as The Third World Winter Games for the Disabled, were held in Innsbruck, Austria. The games took place from the 15 until 21 January. Present at these games were 419 athletes from 21 countries, Spain and the Netherlands competing for the first time in the Winter Paralympics, competing in 107 events across 3 sports. The inclusion of Les Austres and Cerebral palsy impairment groups contributing to the distinct increase in athlete participation with the total number of athletes jumping from 229 at Geilo, Norway in 1980.
Kelly Gallagher MBE, is a retired British skier and the first athlete from Northern Ireland to compete in the Winter Paralympics. Gallagher won Britain's first ever Winter Paralympic gold medal during Sochi 2014.
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.
Jessica Gallagher is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, tandem cyclist and rower. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Winter Paralympics at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where she won a bronze medal in the women's giant slalom visually impaired.
LW2 is a para-alpine and para-Nordic standing ski sport class defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Competitors in this class have severe disability in a lower limb, which may be a result of an amputation, or arthrodesis in the leg and hip. Depending on the type of skiing, the international classification process for LW2 skiers is handled by the IPC Alpine Skiing Technical Committee and IPC Nordic Skiing Technical Committee. National sport federations handle classification on the lower levels.
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.
Melissa Perrine is a B2 classified visually impaired para-alpine skier from Australia. She has competed at the four Winter Paralympics from 2010 to 2022. At the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, she won three gold, one silver and one bronze medals. At the 2018 Winter Paralympics, she won two bronze medals.
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.
Andy Bor is an Australian former ski coach and sighted guide for visually impaired skiers. He was a coach at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino, and was Melissa Perrine's guide skier at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver and 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi.
Christian Geiger is an Australian Alpine skier, Paralympic alpine ski coach and sighted guide for visually impaired skiers. He was Jessica Gallagher's guide skier at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, winning a bronze medal. He represented Australia at the 2008 World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships and the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, but his career was cut short when he was severely injured in a traffic collision in 2009. He became Jessica Gallagher's sighted guide in 2013, and guided her to silver medals in women's slalom and giant slalom at the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Thredbo. Geiger was Melissa Perrine's guide and coach at the 2018 Winter Paralympics where she won two bronze medals.
Millicent Genevieve Knight is a British skier and student who competes at international level for ParalympicsGB in alpine skiing in the slalom, giant slalom Super-G, super combined and Downhill events with a sighted guide, Brett Wild. When Knight was one year old, she contracted an illness, diagnosed at age three, which resulted in the loss of most of her vision by the age of six. She joined the Great Britain Paralympic skiing team in 2012, and progressed to compete at international-level events. Knight was the British flagbearer at Sochi in 2014 – her debut Paralympics - where, at the age of 15, she was the youngest person ever to compete for ParalympicsGB at the Winter Games. In the same year Knight also became an Honorary Doctor of the University of Kent.
Jade Etherington is a British former alpine skier who, with her sighted guide Caroline Powell, won silver in the women's downhill skiing, combined and slalom, and bronze medals in the Super-G at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi. Their three silvers and a bronze at the Winter Paralympics made them the most successful female British Winter Paralympians of all time, and the first Britons to win four medals at one Paralympics. Because of her success at the 2014 Paralympics, Etherington was the British flagbearer at the 2014 Winter Paralympics closing ceremony.
Menna Fitzpatrick MBE is a British alpine skier. She is visually impaired having only 5% vision and formerly skied with guide Jennifer Kehoe until 2021. They competed at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang in March 2018 where they took four medals, including a gold in the slalom, making Fitzpatrick Team GB's most decorated Winter Paralympian.
Giacomo Bertagnolli is a male Italian paralympic alpine skier, and is a four-time Paralympic Games gold medal winner.
Lara Falk is an Australian skier and sighted guide for visually impaired skiers. She was Patrick Jensen's guide at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Major Jennifer "Jen" Kehoe is an author and former professional skier, formerly competing with visually impaired athlete Menna Fitzpatrick as her sighted guide on the IPC World Cup circuit and has represented Great Britain winning four medals including gold at the Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympic Games in South Korea becoming Britains most decorated winter Paralympians. She was a British Army Officer.
Amelia Hodgson is an Australian skier and sighted guide for visually impaired skiers. She was Patrick Jensen's guide at the 2022 Winter Paralympics.
