Para-snowboarder Simon Patmore exceeded all expectations when he became the first Australian man to win a medal at a Paralympic Summer and Winter Games, defeating Italy’s Manuel Pozzerle in a thrilling final to win gold in the men’s snowboard cross SB-UL at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games.
He returned to the slopes four days later to contest the men’s banked slalom SB-UL and, finishing his Games campaign on a high, recorded a best time of 51.99 to come away with bronze. Having contributed two of the Australian Paralympic Team’s four-medal haul, it came as no surprise when Simon was crowned Ski & Snowboard Australia’s 2018 Athlete of the Year alongside Olympians Matt Graham and Jarryd Hughes.
Simon exploded onto the international Para-athletics scene in 2010 with a Commonwealth Games gold medal in the men’s 100m T46. He made his Paralympic debut less than two years later at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, where he finished just 0.31 seconds behind the Brazilian gold medallist, Yohansson Nascimento, to win bronze over 200m.
However, after learning an upper limb impairment class in Para-snowboard would be added to the Paralympic program in 2018, Simon retired from Para-athletics and began working towards qualification for PyeongChang 2018.
Just over a year after his first international competition in Para-snowboard, Simon took top honours in the men’s snowboard cross SB-UL at the 2015/16 IPC Snowboard World Cup in Trentino, Italy. Then, edging closer still towards his goal of becoming just the sixth Australian to compete at the Paralympic Summer and Winter Games, he defeated South Korea’s Seung Hang Park to advance to the quarter-finals of the men’s snowboard cross SB-UL at the 2016/17 IPC Snowboard World Cup Finals in PyeongChang, South Korea.
In his spare time, Simon enjoys hiking, camping and watching the A-League. He holds a Certificate II and III in Information Technology.
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