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Australia at the 2006 Winter Paralympics

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Template:Infobox Paralympics Australia Australia participated in the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin, Italy, from 10 to 19 March 2006. The Turin games represented Australia's seventh appearance at the Winter Paralympic Games. Australia were represented by 10 athletes, which made it their largest ever Winter Paralympic Games contingent.[1] Australia competed in 3 sports: Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, and Cross-Country Skiing, but not the Ice Sledge Hockey or the Wheelchair Curling. Prior to the games, the Australian Paralympic Committee set a target of 2 medals, down from the seven that were won 4 years earlier in Salt Lake City. This was due to the retirement of 3-time medallist Bart Bunting, as well as changes made to the disability classification system.[2] This target was met with Australia winning a silver and a bronze medal to finish equal 13th on the medal tally.

Notable Australian performances included:

  • Emily Jansen, a below-knee amputee skier, was Australia's first ever female Winter Paralympic competitor.
  • James Millar, who was born without his right forearm, was Australia's first Paralympic Cross-Country skier since Peter Rickards in 1980. He also competed in the Biathlon.
  • Michael Milton, a leg amputee skier, who won a silver medal in the standing downhill competition in his fifth and final Winter Paralympic Games.
  • Toby Kane, a leg amputee skier, who at 19 years old was the youngest member of the Australian team. He won a bronze medal in the standing Super-G.

Background

Media Coverage

The Torino Paralympics saw unprecedented media coverage on Australian television, with ABC Television gaining exclusive broadcast rights. For the duration of the games, the ABC broadcast a nightly 30-minute prime-time highlights programme on the networks main channel,[3] which was hosted by ABC Sports presenter Shaun Giles,[4] as well as a replay on the digital channel ABC2. In addition, the ABC held a one-hour special highlights broadcast of the opening ceremony and day 1 of competition.[3] For their coverage, the ABC was awarded the 2007 Paralympic Media Award for best Broadcast Coverage by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).[5]

The 2006 Paralympics also saw history made, with the IPC in conjunction with Narrowtep Inc., launching a live internet television channel dedicated to the broadcasting of the Games free around the world via web-stream.[6] President of the IPC Sir Phillip Craven officially launched the channel on February 20, 2006, stating "For the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, ParalympicSport.TV is expected to provide over 100 hours of live coverage from all four winter sports - Alpine Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey, Nordic Skiing and Wheelchair Curling - as well as the Opening and Closing ceremonies." In addition the channel also streamed daily highlights of the best performances each day. As of 2016 the channel is no longer active, however the IPC do still live stream Paralympic games on their official youtube page.[7]

In total, there were 871 media articles produced relating to the Winter Olympics in Australia, with 134 print articles, 410 television stories, and 327 on the radio, reaching a total combined audience of approximately 34,707,153 people.[1]

Medal Tally

Further information on the medal tally : 2006 Winter Paralympics Medal Table

With one silver and one bronze medal, Australia finished the games placed equal thirteenth overall, tied with Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland. This result was Australia's equal fourth best result in Winter Paralympic history, equal with the Nagano 1998 games where they won a gold and a bronze medal.

1  Russia 13 13 7 33
2  Germany 8 5 5 18
3  Ukraine 7 9 9 25
4  France 7 2 6 15
5  United States 7 2 3 12
=13  Australia 0 1 1 2

Medallists

Further information on the final medallists: 2006 Winter Paralympics Medallists

Medal Name Sport Event
 Silver Michael Milton Alpine Skiing Men's Downhill Standing
 Bronze Toby Kane Alpine Skiing Men's Super-G standing

Classifications

Every participant at the Winter Paralympics is grouped into one of five categories based on their disability type. These categories are:

  • Amputation: The minimum qualification for this category is at least one major joint or limb is missing. This condition may be congenital or sustained through illness or injury.
  • Cerebal Palsy: A disorder of movement and posture due to damage to areas of the brain that affect the participants balance, movement and general muscle control.
  • Vision Impairment/ Blindness: Any condition which interferes with 'normal' range of vision, can range from requiring contact lenses or glasses, to full blindness.
  • Wheelchair Athletes: Athletes in wheelchairs often also fall into one of the other categories as well.
  • Les Autres: Any physical disability that is not covered under any of the other categories. This includes such disorders as dwarfism, congenital deformities of the limb, and multiple sclerosis.

[8][9]

For the Torino games, changes have been implemented to the classifications of the Alpine Skiing event, where the 'three class system' will be used, which had previously been used in the World Cup events for several years prior. This system categorises athletes into 3 competition groups: standing, sitting, and vision impaired. Skiers with a physical impairment who compete in the 'standing' class are classified from Locomotor Winter (LW)1-9: LW1-4 are athletes with lower limb impairment, LW5-8 are athletes with upper limb impairment, and LW9 classification is for athletes with a combination of upper and lower limb impairment. Classification classes LW10-12 are for skiers in the sit-ski event, with physical impairment affecting the legs. For the vision impaired event, athletes compete with a guide and are split into 3 classifications: B1-3, with B1 skiers having limited visual acuity in both eyes.[10][11]

Events

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Paralympics

Results

Men

Athlete Event Time Calculated Time Rank
Scott Adams Men's Downhill Standing 1:32.40 1:32.17 40
Men's Giant Slalom Standing 2:14.44 2:13.46 40
Men's Slalom Standing 1:42.15 1:41.17 38
Men's Super-G Standing 1:21.47 1:21.07 46
Dean Calabrese Men's Downhill Standing 1:40.23 1:35.55 44
Men's Giant Slalom Standing 2:17.32 2:07.57 34
Men's Slalom Standing 1:53.30 1:41.10 37
Men's Super-G Standing 1:27.96 1:21.26 47
Shannon Dallas Men's Downhill Sitting DNF
Men's Giant Slalom Sitting 2:27.80 2:05.22 18
Men's Super-G sitting 1:33.22 1:17.46 9
Tony Kane Men's Downhill Standing 1:27.92 1:23.20 9
Men's Giant Slalom Standing DNF
Men's Slalom Standing 1:27.10 1:27.10 16
Men's Super-G Standing 1:18.06 1:12.03 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Marty Mayberry Men's Downhill Standing 1:33.96 1:27.94 33
Men's Giant Slalom Standing 2:08.47 1:59.14 21
Men's Slalom Standing 1:39.88 1:27.76 19
Men's Super-G Standing DNF
Michael Milton Men's Downhill Standing 1:24.40 1:19.86 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Men's Giant Slalom Standing 2:04.93 1:54.74 13
Men's Slalom Standing 1:24.20 1:24.20 9
Men's Super-G Standing 1:19.77 1:13.61 12
Cameron Rahles-Rahbula Men's Downhill Standing DNF
Men's Giant Slalom Standing DNF
Men's Slalom Standing 1:25.87 1:25.87 14
Men's Super-G Standing DNF
Nicholas Watts Men's Downhill Standing 1:27.89 1:27.67 31
Men's Giant Slalom Standing 2:03.79 2:02.90 27
Men's Slalom Standing 1:35.13 1:34.22 30
Men's Super-G Standing 1:18.01 1:17.63 33

Women

Athlete Event Time Calculated Time Rank
Emily Jansen Women's Giant Slalom Standing 2:50.06 2:00.18 21
Women's Slalom Standing DNF

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Paralympics
Men
Athlete Event Real Time Factor Calculated Time Rank
James Millar Men's 5 km Standing 14:38.6 97 14:12.2 22
Men's 10 km Standing 37:54.4 92 34:52.5 24
Men's 20 km Standing 1:19:11.6 92 1:12:51.5 24

Biathlon

Main article: Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Paralympics
Men
Athlete Event Real Time Missed Shots Factor Finish Time Rank
James Millar Men's 7.5 km Standing 27:18.9 3 97 26:29.8 18
Men's 12.5 km Standing 45:04.9 10 97 53:43.7 20

[12]

Administration

Australia's support team for the games was consisted of:[1]

  • Chef de mission and Paralympic Committee CEO: Darren Peters
  • Assistant Chef de mission: Nick Dean
  • Administration officer: Natalie Jenkins
  • Attache: Angus Mckenzie
  • Press Attache: Margie McDonald
  • Coaches: Steve Graham (Head Coach), Andrew Bor (Coach)
  • Technical Officer: Alan Dean
  • Medical: Fiona Peat (Medical Officer), Alison Daniel (Trainer)

Also accompanying the team was a Joint Management Committee, which was made up of:

Funding/Sponsorship

The Australian Paralympic Commiettee set a budget of $740,000 for the 2006 Winter Paralympics. The total cost to send the team and support staff came to $656,000.[1]

The 2006 Australian Winter Paralympic team was sposnored by the following organisations and companies: Major sponsors: The Australian Sports Commission, Telstra, Toyota. Official sponsors/supporters: Healthe, Motor Accidents Authority, Queensland Government, NSW sports and recreation, Workcover NSW, South Australia office of sport and recreation. Suppliers: Clayton Utz, Media Monitors.[1][11]

Closing Ceremony and Post Games Legacy

Australia met its overall goal at these Winter Paralympics, winning 2 medals.

Michael Milton was originally chosen to carry the flag at the closing ceremony, but following the bronze medal winning performance of Toby Kane, he sought and gained permission to transfer the honour to Kane.[1]

On the last day of competition, Milton, along with Scott Adams announced their retirements from Paralympic competition. Milton's career spanned 5 Winter Paralympics, and he finished as Australia's most successful winter Paralympian ever, with 6 Gold, 3 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals. In 2014, Milton returned to the Australian Winter Paralympic Team as a ski coach for the Sochi games.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "2005/06 Australian Paralympic Committee Annual Report" (PDF).
  2. ^ Sydney Morning Herald: Aussie Paralympians expect fewer medals March 8, 2006.
  3. ^ a b "Paralympic Media Awards". www.paralympic.org. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  4. ^ "- ABC1 Television Guide". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  5. ^ "Winners of Paralympic Awards 2007 Announced". www.paralympic.org. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  6. ^ "Live Internet broadcast from the 2006 Paralympics in Torino". www.ossur.com. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  7. ^ "Paralympic Games". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  8. ^ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC News. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  9. ^ "BBC SPORT | PARALYMPICS | Making sense of the categories". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  10. ^ Lyons, Keith. "Explainer: classification at the Winter Paralympics". The Conversation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  11. ^ a b Australian Sports Commission. "2006 Winter Paralympic Games Media Guide" (PDF).
  12. ^ "Australia at the 2006 Winter Paralympics". International Paralympic Committee Historical Results Database. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  13. ^ "Australian team calls on Winter Paralympic legend Michael Milton for Sochi". HeraldSun. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
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