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Melissa Perrine admits her approach to skiing sounds counterintuitive. Call it what you will, but it’s worked wonders for the four-time Paralympian and there’s plenty of proof to back it up.
The proof looks like this: Four World Championship gold medals, four silver and four bronze since 2011, two Paralympic bronze medals at PyeongChang 2018 and twice Co-Captain of the Australian Paralympic Winter Team.
Perrine starts her Beijing 2022 program with guide Bobbi Kelly in the Women’s Giant Slalom Vision Impaired at Yanqing on Friday. Also in action will be Rae Anderson, in the Women’s Giant Slalom Standing.
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Meanwhile, at Zhangjiakou, Snowboard star Ben Tudhope will compete in Banked Slalom hoping to add to the bronze medal he won in the Snowboard Cross on Monday.
“I’ve been blessed with a lot of success in my career,” Perrine said.
“I’ve scored a lot of podiums, I’ve won Crystal Globes, I’ve done a lot and there’s no hiding behind that.”
“But, for me, it’s never been about medals. It sounds counterintuitive. But, for me, it’s always been about skiing phenomenally, skiing to the best of my ability and beating who I was the day before.”
“A pass mark for me is if Bobbi and I can go out there, leave it all on the hill and, if we can put together two of the best runs of our partnership, not only will we be happy but we’ll also be competitive.”
Being positively self-focused has worked well for Perrine amid a lot of attention in the past month after she made clear this would be her final Paralympics appearance.
She has “soaked in the atmosphere”, she said, more so than at her previous Games and supported her teammates who have competed earlier in the schedule. The hype and excitement haven’t affected her mindset, if anything her determination to compete and enjoy the experience have been enhanced, even if there have been some emotional spills.
“I did cry yesterday at training,” she said. “I just love this sport so much. A big part of that is training alongside my teammates and sharing that passion with them and with the people from other countries.
“Going into yesterday, knowing it was the last time I’d be training with my team, it was tough. But, at the same time, it was sweet. It was sunny and warm, we were skiing well – those are the days you ski for.”
It was warm at Zhangjiakou as well, leading organisers to bring forward the Snowboard Banked Slalom by a day. Not a problem for Tudhope.
“I’m actually excited that we moved a day forward. I think it’s really good,” he said.
“I feel like we’d be twiddling our thumbs a bit if it was on Saturday. It was really good to get a day off, I definitely needed that after the boardercross, but after that we were straight back into training.”
Tudhope was euphoric after winning bronze. But now he’s hungry for more.
“It would mean everything. I’ve always known there’s two chances, two competitions here, so to top it off with another medal in the Banked Slalom would be absolutely amazing and another dream come true, I guess.”
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By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 11 March 2022
