# Australia at the 2018 Winter Paralympics

Australia sent a team of 12 athletes and three guides to the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, Korea. Australia finished 15th on the medal table and it was its fourth best medal performance at the Winter Paralympics.

## Medallists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Simon Patmore | Snowboarding | Snowboard cross SB-UL | 12 March |
| Bronze | Simon Patmore | Snowboarding | Snowboard banked SB-UL | 16 March |
| Bronze | Melissa Perrine Guide: Christian Geiger | Alpine skiing | Super combined B & VI | 13 March |
| Bronze | Melissa Perrine Guide: Christian Geiger | Alpine skiing | Giant slalom B & VI | 14 March |

## Team Preparation

It was expected that the final Australian team would be between 10 and 12 athletes across two sports – para-alpine skiing and para-snowboard. There is the aim to finish in the top 15 nations on the medal table, as per the target set by the Australian Sports Commission’s Australia’s Winning Edge policy. The team will be missing previous Winter Paralympic Games medallists - Cameron Rahles-Rahbula, Toby Kane and Jessica Gallagher.
The Australian Paralympic Committee expects Mitchell Gourley, Melissa Perrine, Joany Badenhorst and Ben Tudhope to be medal contenders.
The Australian Sports Commission provided Ski and Snowboard Australia the following funding for Australia's Winter Paralympic high performance program: 2014/15 = $934,478: 2015/16 - $934,478; 2016/17 - $934,478; 2017/18 - $1,009,478

## Administration

In March 2017, Nick Dean was appointed Chef de Mission. He previously served as Chef de Mission at the Lillehammer 1994, Nagano 1998 and Salt Lake City 2002 Games and was Deputy Chef de Mission for a further three Winter and two Summer Paralympic Games between 1992 and 2012.
Team Support :
| Position | Person |
| Chef de Mission | Nick Dean |
| General Manager, Paralympic Performance & Out of Village | Paul Kiteley |
| Team Attaché and Security | Melissa Riethmuller |
| General Manager, Communications | Tim Mannion |
| Head Coach, Alpine | Chris McKnight |
| Coach, Alpine | Craig Branch |
| Head Coach, Snowboard | Lukas Prem |
| Ski Technician | Curtis Christian |
| Ski Technician | Ryan Pearl |
| Snowboard Technician | Tony Horne |
| Chief Medical Officer | Dr Geoff Thompson |
| Physiotherapist | Justin Wray |
| Physiotherapist | Tom Peters |
| Psychologist | Kristine Dunn |
| Team Leader | Annie McCormack |
| Operations Manager | Shellee Ferguson |
| IT and Operations Manager | Ben Troy |
| Media Liaison Officer | Sascha Ryner |
| Media Liaison Officer | Margie McDonald |
| Videographer | Brett Frawley |
| Vice-President APC | Jock O'Callaghan |
| CEO APC | Lynne Anderson |

## Team

Mitchell Gourley and Joany Badenhorst were announced team co-captains in October 2017. On 20 February 2018, Australian Paralympic Committee announced a team of 13 athletes. Shaun Pianta and sighted guide Jeremy O'Sullivan were selected in the team on 6 March but Pianta will be required to pass a final fitness test on his injured right knee ahead of his Paralympic debut on March 14.
The final team of 12 athletes and three sighted guides is the largest Australian team to compete at a Winter Paralympic Games.
Joany Badenhorst was named the Opening Ceremony flag bearer, the first female Australian Winter Paralympian to be given this honour. Melissa Perrine was given the honour of the Closing Ceremony flag bearer due to her competing at three Winter Games and winning two bronze medals in PyeongChang.

## Events
### Alpine skiing
#### Women

| Athlete | Event | Final | Final | Final | Final | Date |
| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Rank | Date |
| Melissa Perrine / Christian Geiger (guide) B2 | Downhill Visually Impaired | | | 1:35.40 | 5 | 10 March |
| Melissa Perrine / Christian Geiger (guide) B2 | Super-G visually impaired | | | 1:36.96 | 5 | 11 March |
| Melissa Perrine / Christian Geiger (guide) B2 | Super combined Visually Impaired | 1:35.50 (6) | 55.32 (1) | 2:30.82 | | 13 March |
| Melissa Perrine / Christian Geiger (guide) B2 | Slalom Visually Impaired | 56.74 (5) | 58.33 (2) | 1:55.07 | 4 | 18 March |
| Melissa Perrine / Christian Geiger (guide) B2 | Giant slalom visually impaired | 1:14.95 (3) | 1:13.86 (2) | 2:28.81 | | 14 March |
| Victoria Pendergast LW12-1 | Downhill sit-ski | | | 1:44.14 | 4 | 10 March |
| Victoria Pendergast LW12-1 | Super-G sit-ski | | | DNF | DNF | 11 March |
| Victoria Pendergast LW12-1 | Super combined super-G sit-ski | 1:44.49(8) | DNS | | DNS | 13 March |
| Victoria Pendergast LW12-1 | Giant slalom sit-ski | 1:21.22 (9) | 1:20.15 (8) | 2:41.37 | 8 | 14 March |

#### Men

| Athlete | Event | Final | Final | Final | Final | Date |
| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Rank | Date |
| Mitchell Gourley LW6/8-2 | Downhill Standing | | | DNF | DNF | 10 March |
| Mitchell Gourley LW6/8-2 | Slalom Standing | 48.69 (3) | 53.63 (12) | 1:42.32 | 6 | 17 March |
| Mitchell Gourley LW6/8-2 | Giant slalom standing | 1:07.87 (5) | 1:08.60 (8) | 2:16.47 | 8 | 14 March |
| Mitchell Gourley LW6/8-2 | Super-G standing | | | 1:30.34 | 12 | 11 March |
| Mitchell Gourley LW6/8-2 | Super combined standing | 1:27.13 (3) | 49.77 (8) | 2:16.90 | 5 | 13 March |
| Jonty O'Callaghan LW9-1 | Downhill Standing | | | 1:34.86 | 22 | 10 March |
| Jonty O'Callaghan LW9-1 | Slalom Standing | DNF | | | DNF | 17 March |
| Jonty O'Callaghan LW9-1 | Giant slalom standing | 1:15.64 (29) | 1:16.58 (25) | 2:32.22 | 23 | 14 March |
| Jonty O'Callaghan LW9-1 | Super-G standing | | | DNF | DNF | 11 March |
| Jonty O'Callaghan LW9-1 | Super combined standing | DNF | | | DNF | 13 March |
| Mark Soyer LW11 | Downhill Sitting | | | DNF | DNF | 10 March |
| Mark Soyer LW11 | Slalom Sitting | DNF | | | DNF | 17 March |
| Mark Soyer LW11 | Giant slalom Sitting | 1:16.95 (22) | 1:12.99 (16) | 2:29.94 | 18 | 14 March |
| Mark Soyer LW11 | Super-G sitting | | | 1:32.32 | 16 | 11 March |
| Mark Soyer LW11 | Super combined Sitting | 1:33.24 (18) | DNF | | DNF | 13 March |
| Sam Tait LW11 | Downhill Sitting | | | 1:28.56 | 11 | 10 March |
| Sam Tait LW11 | Slalom Sitting | DNF | | | DNF | 17 March |
| Sam Tait LW11 | Giant slalom Sitting | 1:17.36 (24) | 1:10.92 (13) | 2:28.28 | 17 | 14 March |
| Sam Tait LW11 | Super-G sitting | | | DNF | DNF | 11 March |
| Sam Tait LW11 | Super combined Sitting | DNF | | | DNF | 13 March |
| Patrick Jensen B2 Lara Falk (guide) | Slalom Standing Visually Impaired | DNF | | | DNF | 17 March |
| Patrick Jensen B2 Lara Falk (guide) | Giant slalom standing Visually Impaired | 1:16.55 (11) | 1:15.61 (12) | 2:32.16 | 11 | 14 March |
| Shaun Pianta B2 Jeremy O'Sullivan (guide) | Slalom Standing Visually Impaired | DNF | | | DNF | 17 March |
| Shaun Pianta B2 Jeremy O'Sullivan (guide) | Giant slalom standing Visually Impaired | 1:25.97 (14) | 1:21.88 (14) | 2:47.85 | 14 | 14 March |

### Snowboarding
#### Women

Joany Badenhorst was injured in a training run just prior to the day of competition and was declared medically unfit to compete.

#### Men

| Athlete | Event | Race 1 | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 2 | 1/8 | Q/F | S/F | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Position | Position | Position | Position |
| Simon Patmore SB-UL | Men's snowboard cross | 1:01.76 | 3 | 1:02.45 | 4 Q | 1Q | 1Q | 1Q | |
| Simon Patmore SB-UL | Men's snowboard cross | Sean Pollard SB-UL | 1:06.57 | 12 | 1:06.57 | 6Q | 2 | — | — | — |
| Ben Tudhope SB-LL2 | Men's snowboard cross | 1:03.74 | 12 | 1:00.64 | 5 Q | 2 | — |

#### Men

| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 3 | Best time | Best time |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Simon Patmore SB-UL | Men's snowboard banked | 54.11 | 2 | 52.78 | 2 | 51.99 | 3 | 51.99 | |
| Sean Pollard SB-UL | Men's snowboard banked | 57.11 | 6 | 53.84 | 3 | 55.39 | 7 | 53.84 | 5 |
| Ben Tudhope SB-LL2 | Men's snowboard banked | 52.02 | 6 | 52.63 | 7 | 51.68 | 7 | 51.68 | 7 |

## Media Coverage

Seven Network has an agreement with the Australian Paralympic Committee to provide coverage of Australia’s Winter Paralympic sport across Seven’s television, digital and print media assets to bring the stories of Australia’s winter Paralympic athletes to more Australians than ever before. Coverage will include a daily highlights show to be broadcast on 7MATE every morning, with an encore highlights on 7TWO and Channel 7 in the evening. It is the first time a commercial television network has covered Australian athletes at the Winter Paralympics. During the Games, Channel Seven encountered criticism from former Paralympians and current athletes due to it limiting its coverage of the nine-day event to a one-hour highlights show the day after competition for Australian audiences.