Australia at the 1998 Winter Paralympics

Australia at the 1998 Winter Paralympics
IPC code	AUS
NPC	Australian Paralympic Committee
Website	www.paralympic.org.au
in Nagano
Competitors	4 in 1 sport
Flag bearer	James Patterson (Opening)[1]
Medals Ranked 16th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 0 1 2
Winter Paralympics appearances (overview)
1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

The 1998 Winter Paralympics were held in Nagano, Japan from the 5–14 March 1998.^[2] At these Games, Australia was represented by four male alpine skiers and finished equal 16th (with Denmark) of 21 Nations on the overall medal tally.^[3] James Patterson, an LW9 standing skier, won Australia's two medals - one gold and one bronze.^[4]

The Team

Members of the 1998 Australian Winter Paralympic Team were nominated after a series of training camps and competition at the Disabled WinterSport Australia Nationals held in Mt Hotham, Victoria.^[5] The team originally consisted of six alpine skiers.

Athlete	Classification	Events	Previous Games	Competitive Status
Anthony Bonaccurso	LW11	Men's Giant Slalom LW11 Men's Slalom LW11 Men's Super-G LW11	Nil	Competed
Rod Hacon	LW11/LWXII	Did not compete - Injury	1992 Tignes-Albertville 1994 Lillehammer	Withdrew - injury
David Munk	LW11/LWXII	Did not compete - Illness	1988 Innsbruck 1992 Tignes-Albertville 1994 Lillehammer	Withdrew - illness
Matthew Shane Nicholls	LW5/7	Men's Downhill LW1,3,5/7,9 Men's Giant Slalom LW1,3,5/7 Men's Slalom LW6/8 Men's Super-G LW1,3,5/7	Nil	Competed
James Lawrence Patterson	LW9	Men's Giant Slalom LW9 Men's Super-G LW9 Men's Slalom LW9 Men's Downhill LW1,3,5/7,9	1994 Lillehammer	Competed
Alastair Mars	LW6/8	Men's Downhill LW6/8 Men's Giant Slalom LW6/8 Men's Slalom LW6/8 Men's Super-G LW6/8	Nil	Competed

Rod Hacon, forced to withdraw from Nagano Paralympics due to hand injury.

^[4][5]

The team was supported by national head coach Steve Bova and managed by Commander Adrian Pay (RAN).^[5]

Games Preparation

The Australian's began their team training in unsympathetic Australian ski conditions. Once the Australian ski fields proved inadequate for training the team travelled to the northern hemisphere where they spent a significant amount of time training and acclimatising prior to the Nagano Paralympics.^[5]

Withdrawals

It was during this time that both Rod Hacon and David Munk were forced to withdraw from the Australian team. Munk became seriously ill with a kidney infection and Hacon suffered an freak accident, whilst carrying his ski, severely damaging his hand.^[5] The injury required surgery and ongoing treatment. Consequently both experienced Paralympic campaigners withdrew from the team prior to the Games. This was a significant blow for the Australian team as they lost two of their most experienced Paralympians who were both well placed to medal at the Games. James Patterson was the only athlete left in the team with previous Paralympics experience. The Australian Winter Paralympic team was reduced to only four athletes, three of whom who'd never before competed at a Winter Paralympics.

Medalists

Australian Paralympic skier James Patterson at 1994 Paralympic Games

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Patterson, JamesJames Patterson	Alpine Skiing	Men's Downhill LW1,3,5/7,9
Bronze	Patterson, JamesJames Patterson	Alpine Skiing	Men's Slalom LW9

^[4]

James Patterson performed strongly in the blue-ribbon event, the Men's Downhill and eclipsed the opposition,^[5] beating New Zealander Mathew Butson to the gold medal by over a second.^[4] After two bad races in the Giant Slalom and Super G, Patterson fought back to claim bronze in the Slalom LW9.^[5]

Results

Alpine skiing

Men

Athlete	Event	Time	Factor %	Calculated Factor	Rank
Anthony Bonaccurso	Men's Giant Slalom LW11	DNF	-	-	-
	Men's Slalom LW11	2:57.26	72.63033	2:08.74	17
	Men's Super-G LW11	2:07.03	83.15137	1:45.62	20
Matthew Shane Nicholls	Men's Downhill LW1,3,5/7,9	1:27.83	97.64023	1:25.75	10
	Men's Giant Slalom LW1,3,5/7	3:20.93	98.77309	3:18.46	6
	Men's Slalom LW6/8	DNF	-	-	-
	Men's Super-G LW1,3,5/7	1:39.37	99.03576	1:38.41	11
James Patterson	Men's Giant Slalom LW9	3:07.42	90.84983	2:50.27	4
	Men's Super-G LW9	DSQ	-	-	-
	Men's Slalom LW9	2:08.01	88.6755	1:53.51
	Men's Downhill LW1,3,5/7,9	1:10.10	95.92812	1:07.24
Alastair Mars	Men's Downhill LW6/8	1:12.65	100	1:12.65	16
	Men's Giant Slalom LW6/8	DSQ	-	-	-
	Men's Slalom LW6/8	DNF	-	-	-
	Men's Super-G LW6/8	1:23.64	100	1:23.64	20

^[6]

Medal Table

Australia finished equal 16th (with Denmark) of 21 Nations on the overall medal table.^[3] This was lower than the previous two Winter Paralympic games. Australia finished ninth on the table in Lillehammer four years prior (nine medals - three gold, two silver and four bronze)^[7] and twelfth in Albertville in 1992 (four medals - one gold, one silver and two bronze).^[8]

Map of countries participating in the 1998 Winter Paralympics. Blue = Countries participating for the first time, Green = Countries who have previously participated in a Winter Paralympics, Yellow Square = Host City, Nagano, Japan.

Rank	Country		Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway		18	9	13	40
2	Germany		14	17	13	44
3	United States of America		13	8	13	34
4	Japan		12	16	13	41
5	Russia		12	10	9	31
6	Switzerland		10	5	8	23
7	Spain		8	0	0	8
8	Austria		7	16	11	34
9	Finland		7	5	7	19
10	France		5	9	8	22
11	New Zealand		4	1	1	6
12	Italy		3	4	3	10
13	Czech Republic		3	3	1	7
14	Ukraine		3	2	4	9
15	Canada		1	9	5	15
16	Australia		1	0	1	2
	Denmark		1	0	1	2

^{[3] [9]}

Impact

At the conclusion of the games, the Australian Paralympic Committee developed a plan to improve Australia's medal count at the Winter Paralympic Games. The entire winter program was reviewed resulting in a focus on talent identification, continuity of coaching and ongoing, well structured training . A year-round training program was developed to improve physical conditioning for skiing athletes. Funding was secured from the Australian Paralympic Committee, the Australian Sports Commission, and the New South Wales Department of Sport and Recreation.^[5][10]

Ron Finneran of WinterSport Australia did a major push to help insure the success of this program. He helped to bring Perisher Blue and Thredbo, two Australian ski resorts, on board to provide training venues, access and support to Australian Paralympic skiers.^[11]

See also

• Australia at the Winter Paralympics
• 1998 Winter Paralympics

References

1. "Inaugural Central Coast Sporting Wall of Fame - James Patterson". Blue Tongue Stadium Website. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
2. "Nagano 1998 Paralympics - Ceremonies, Medals, Torch Relay". www.paralympic.org. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
3. Committee, Alexander Picolin, International Paralympic. "IPC Historical Results Archive - MedalStandings Web". db.ipc-services.org. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
4. "Paralympic Results & Historical Records". www.paralympic.org. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
5. Australian Paralympic Committee (1998). "1998 APC Annual Report". 1998 APC Annual Report. Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
6. Committee, Alexander Picolin, International Paralympic. "IPC Historical Results Archive - Competition Web". db.ipc-services.org. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
7. Committee, Alexander Picolin, International Paralympic. "IPC Historical Results Archive - MedalStandings Web". db.ipc-services.org. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
8. Committee, Alexander Picolin, International Paralympic. "IPC Historical Results Archive - MedalStandings Web". db.ipc-services.org. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
9. Brittain, Ian (2014). From Stoke Mandeville to Sochi a history of the summer and winter paralympic games. Illinois: Common Ground Publishing. p. 211. ISBN 9781612294124.
10. Australian Paralympic Committee (1999). "1999 APC Annual Report" (PDF). 1999 APC Annual Report. Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
11. "Sport Australia Hall of Fame - Member Profile". www.sahof.org.au. Retrieved 2016-08-24.