After winning two bronze medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, three-time Paralympian Melissa Perrine was named Ski and Snowboard Australia’s Paralympic Athlete of the Year and Female Para-athlete of the Year at the AIS Awards.
The talented all-rounder was also awarded the NSWIS Personal Excellence prize for completing a Masters of Physiotherapy alongside her medal success. She had already obtained a Bachelor of Exercise Science in 2011 and a Master of Exercise and Sports Science in 2012.
Perrine showed promise on the slopes early in her career, achieving a podium finish with her former sighted guide Andy Bor at the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing NorAm Cup in Winter Park, USA.
Making their Paralympic debut together the following year in Vancouver, Canada, Perrine and Bor did well to place fifth in the women’s Downhill, seventh in the Super-G and eighth in the Slalom and, after winning a slew of medals in the four years between Vancouver and Sochi, were among Australia’s top medal hopes for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games.
Unfortunately, Perrine and Bor struck a run of bad luck at the Games. After a narrow fourth place finish in the Downhill on day one, Perrine was in a medal-winning position in the Super-G but lost control and recorded a Did Not Finish.
Perrine was disqualified in the Super Combined for attaching a visor to her race helmet and a ski came loose in the Giant Slalom and Slalom to bring her Games campaign to a disappointing close.
At the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Panorama, Canada, Perrine found her winning edge, taking home three gold, one silver and one bronze medal and at the 2017 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Hakuba, Japan, she won gold in the Giant Slalom.
Competing at the PyeongChang 2018 Test Event in South Korea later that week, she returned to the IPC World Cup podium, winning bronze in the Downhill and the Super-G despite having taken an extended break from competition during the 2016/17 season to focus on her studies.
After her bronze successes at PyeongChang with then-sighted guide Christian Geiger, Perrine brought home another three medals from the 2019 Alpine Skiing World Championships, in Italy.
At 34, Perrine raced in her fourth and final Paralympic Games at Beijing 2022 with sighted guide Bobbi Kelly. She finished in sixth in the Women’s Giant Slalom event, in a time of 2:07.01. She closed her campaign with the Slalom event, however after striking a gate in the second run, she recorded a DNF in her final Paralympic race.
Australia’s first female athlete to win an IPC World Championship medal in alpine skiing credits her parents’ unwavering support for her success on the slopes. She also admires UFC star Ronda Rousey for creating a space for women in mixed martial arts, and enjoys doing it in her spare time.
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