Bronze for Gourley at World Para Alpine Skiing Champs
Published Thu 24 Jan 2019
The medal haul at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships continues for Australia with triple Paralympian Mitch Gourley claiming bronze in the men’s slalom overnight.
After a tough opening run, Gourley fought his way back to finish on the podium behind France’s Arthur Bauchet and Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl who took gold and silver respectively.
Blanket snow fell on course at the Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on day three of the the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships.
The 27 year old hailing from Geelong, was pleased with his podium finish building on his fourth place in the Giant Slalom Standing on the opening day of the world championships two days earlier.
“It’s really good, I had a tough first run but was then able to step it up and really attack the course in the second run and move into third.
“They’ve done a really good job preparing the course here, they do a great job preparing here for the World Cup. Really good conditions, top to bottom, and a really great slope,” he said.
The competition doesn’t stop there, with Gourley to line up in three additional races including the Downhill, Super G and Super Combined.
Defending World Champion in the Super Combined, Gourley is looking forward to taking on a new course when the World Championships heads to venue number two, Sella Nevea, Itlay.
“I’m very excited, I actually have raced on the Sella slope before but hearing really good things about the track and I’m excited to get out there to try and defend the Combined (Super Combined) title,” he said.
Gourley will have a jammed schedule lining up in the Downhill Standing on 29 January, Super Combined 31 January and Super G on 1 February.
The medal is the second for Australia, with Mel Perrine taking silver in Giant Slalom Vision Impaired with her sighted guide Bobbi Kelly.
You can watch the World Championships live on World Para Alpine Skiing’s website https://www.paralympic.org/alpine-skiing and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paraalpine, where live results are also available.