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With his two quickfire runs down the Giant Slalom course on day six of Beijing 2022, Paralympic Games debutant Josh Hanlon announced himself as a future star of Australian alpine skiing.
With the small farming community of Weethalle in the Central West of NSW riding every bump, the 24-year-old did them proud by finishing 11th overall (2:09.81). His compatriot Sam Tait (2:16.40) was 22nd.
Having watched his team-mates compete in the Downhill, Super G and Super-Combined events since arriving in Beijing, Hanlon admitted to a significant level of nervousness for the first run but said he felt more loose for the second.
After posting the 14th fastest time in the first run (1:06.60), he delivered the 10th fastest time (1:03.21) in the second run to conclude his first Paralympic event just outside the top 10, 15.61 seconds behind Norway’s gold medallist Jesper Pedersen (1:54.20).
“I don’t think you can prepare yourself for the nerves that come along with being on such a big stage,” Hanlon said.
“Can’t be happier than to finish those two runs. With a bit more confidence and being not so nervous, I think I could have been heaps quicker than that. But it is what is it is and that’s why it is such a big platform. That’s why we’re here.
“It’s been great fun. Everyone has been a really good help along the way. Basically everyone else on the team has been to a [Paralympic] Games, so all their help and advice this season has been awesome.”
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For four-time Paralympian Mitch Gourley there were mixed emotions. After coming just 2.13 seconds off the pace after the first run, he made a slight mistake on a turn early in the second run, which cost him any chance of a medal.
“It’s frustrating on one side, but it’s also really heartening on the other, that I can be proud of my skiing,” Gourley said.
“Ski racing is a brutal sport. You fail a lot more than you succeed. Today was one of those days where I think I succeeded in what I attempted to do. I didn’t maybe succeed on the scoresheet, but I succeeded in what I attempted and how I went about it.”
Gourley has just the Slalom left on his program before he retires from Paralympic competition.
“I’m really glad that I’ve got in here with that out on the table and been able to enjoy it and soak it all in and feel everything instead of kind of pushing it away and being clinical, which is what I tend to do,” he said of the emotion of the past few weeks.
“It’s really nice to share this moment with everyone after so many years on the on the road together – guys on our team, guys on other teams, people that are still here, people that weren’t here or on the other side of the fence, holding microphones. I’ve made a lifetime of friends and that’s, you know, the gift of this sport.”
For Patrick Jensen, too, there were no regrets after the Giant Slalom. He and guide Amelia Hodgson were in ninth position in the Vision Impaired category after the first round but recorded a DNF in the second.
“We left nothing at the start in that second round,” Jensen said. “I pushed to my limits and that happens sometimes, you don’t finish. But I couldn’t be happier with the skiing before that.”
Asked about his infectiously positive attitude to his skiing, Jensen said: “I guess everyone’s always told me to try not to focus on your results because it’s what gets in your head. I feel like I’m trying to take that on board and try and have as much fun as I can while I’m here and try to make sure my teammates are doing the same because the fact that we’ve made it to the Paralympic Games is crazy in itself. We compete and ski as hard as we can. That’s all we can really ask for.”
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For sit-skier Sam Tait, Beijing 2022 is over and the road to Cortina in Italy in four years’ time begins.
“I wanted to come in today just feeling good and finish the runs,” he said.
“The first run I probably held back a little bit too much. This time I just wanted to get some confidence back.”
Tait’s pet events are the speed events, but he didn’t score the results he’d hoped for earlier in the campaign.
“Obviously it was a tough start, but it’s the nature of the sport,” he said.
“We push and push and we crash. It was just nice to get to the finish today.”
Tait, now a two-time Paralympian, vowed to push on to the next Games.
“I’m pretty grateful for the life I live, I get to travel around the world and ski. It’s pretty amazing,” he said.
Day seven of Beijing 2022 will feature the women’s Giant Slalom events and Ben Tudhope in the Para-snowboard Banked Slalom.
PyeongChang 2018 dual bronze medallist Melissa Perrine and guide Bobbi Kelly will compete, as well as summer and winter Paralympic representative Rae Anderson, while Tudhope will be aiming to continue his dream Paralympic campaign after winning bronze in the men’s Snowboard Cross event last Monday.
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By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 10 March 2022
