The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from March 7 to 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the American continent. These were the first Paralympic Winter Games for Andorra, Chile, China, Croatia, Greece, and Hungary. Ragnhild Myklebust of Norway won five gold medals in skiing and biathlon, becoming the most successful Winter Paralympic athlete of all time with 22 medals, 17 of them gold.
Mercer Island High School (MIHS) is a public high school located in Mercer Island, Washington, United States, as part of the Mercer Island School District.
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.
Several tropical nations have participated in the Winter Olympics despite not having the climate for winter sports. Partly because of that, their entries are a subject of human interest stories during the Games. No tropical nation has ever won a Winter Olympic medal.
Bartholomew Bunting is an Australian blind Paralympic alpine skier. He started skiing in 1998 with his guide Nathan Chivers. He won two gold medals and a silver medal with Chivers at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Paralympics and competed at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.
Steve Graham is a retired Australian Paralympic winter sport coach. He was head coach of Australia's Winter Paralympic team for the 1994 Winter Paralympics, 2006 Winter Paralympics, 2010 Winter Paralympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics. As of 2014, after the Sochi winter Paralympics Graham ceased to be the current head coach of the Australian Paralympic Committee's Winter Paralympic program.
Simon Patmore, is an Australian Para-athletics and Para-snowboard competitor. He won a gold medal in the Men's 100m T46 at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, and bronze in the Men's 200m T46 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. At the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games, Patmore won a gold medal in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-UL and bronze in the Men's Banked Slalom SB-UL.
Scott Peter Reardon, is an Australian Paralympic leg amputee sprinter and water skier. He won water skiing world championships in 2007 and 2009. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics, winning a silver medal in the Men's 100 m T42. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he went one placing better to win the gold medal. Reardon has won the Men's 100 m T42 in three consecutive World Para Athletics Championships, from 2013 to 2017. He competed at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, his third games.
Oksana Masters is an American multi-sport Paralympic athlete of Ukrainian descent from Louisville, Kentucky. Having primarily specialized in rowing and cross-country skiing, she won the first ever United States medal in trunk and arms mixed double sculls at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She was also a part of the U.S. Nordic skiing team at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. She won two Paralympic medals in 2014 and five Paralympic medals in 2018, including two gold. She switched to para-cycling after the 2012 Paralympics and competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals at the latter. She competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, winning a gold medal in Biathlon – Women's 6 kilometres, sitting.
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.
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.
Seth McBride is an American Paralympic wheelchair rugby player and five-time gold medalist from Seattle, Washington.
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.
New Zealand sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, held between 7–16 March 2014. The country continued its streak of competing in every Winter Paralympics since 1984. New Zealand's delegation consisted of three competitors in alpine skiing, one of whom, Corey Peters, won a silver medal in the giant slalom. With one silver medal, the country tied for 16th on the medal table for these Paralympics.
Markus Salcher is an Austrian alpine skier and Paralympic Champion. He competed in the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, where he won two gold medals.
Macmilton "Mac" Marcoux is a Canadian Paralympic alpine skier who won three titles at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup at the age of 15. With guide Robin Femy, he won three medals in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, including gold in the men's visually impaired giant slalom. He also has numerous awards including being inducted into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame. He has an older brother and a younger sister. He also enjoys riding BMX and mountain bikes.
Anna-Lena Forster is a German para-alpine skier who competed at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Paralympics winning six medals.
Christopher Klebl is an American-Canadian cross-country skier who represented the United States at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Paralympics before winning a gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.
