Sam Tait is one of Australia’s most experienced Para-skiers, with nearly a decade behind him representing the nation on the world circuit.
Sam comes from a snow-loving family and was already an accomplished skier when he acquired paraplegia at age 22, after which he successfully transitioned to sit-skiing and forged an exciting career.
At his first Paralympic Games, PyeongChang 2018, Sam competed in five events, finishing 11th in downhill and 17th in giant slalom and did not finish in three events. The next year he achieved one of his best results, coming sixth in the downhill at the World Para-Alpine Skiing Championships in Slovenia.
Sam competed in three events at Beijing 2022, registering DNFs in downhill and Super G and finishing 22nd in giant slalom. Those results left the determined fitness enthusiast with a point to prove at Milano Cortina, where he hopes to feature at his third Games.
“I love being part of a Movement that is growing rapidly in Australia,” he said. “It means inspiring people, not just with disabilities, to put their whole heart into something meaningful.”
Sam certainly lives by his words. When he woke at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney with no recollection of the motorcycle accident three days earlier in which he broke his T11 vertebrae, he faced three months in intensive rehabilitation and a life with different prospects. However, like his favourite quote – “Do today what others won’t, so tomorrow you can do what others can’t” – he applied his energy and focus to achieving his best, on and off the slopes.
Whether it’s achieving a top 10 ranking in the adaptive division at the International CrossFit Games, his studies in computer-aided design detailing and accountancy, or opening his new fitness-based business in the NSW snowfields, Sam has proven himself to be a high-achiever in the mould of his role-model, Rio 2016 co-captain and three-time Paralympic gold medallist, Kurt Fearnley. In the spirit of Fearnley’s famous Kokoda trek, in 2020 Sam became the first person with paraplegia to scale Mount Kosciuszko without mechanical help.
Asked to describe himself in one sentence, Sam said: “A passionate, motivated individual, who won’t give up when he sets his mind to something.”
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