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Para-alpine skier Jonty O’Callaghan’s Winter Paralympic Games campaign has come to a premature and shattering end in Austria after a serious crash during training last Thursday.
O’Callaghan suffered a concussion and a broken collarbone which requires surgery, making it impossible for him to recover in time to compete at his second Paralympic Games beginning in Beijing on March 4.
O’Callaghan informed his team-mates that his Paralympic campaign was over and he was required to head home during an emotional meeting on Saturday before he departed Europe for Melbourne on Sunday night (AEST).
He had been set to arrive in Beijing with his team-mates this Thursday.
“That conversation was the probably the hardest I have had to start with anyone,” he said.
“I didn’t contain my emotions very well.
“It was clearly a very emotional time for everyone. We’ve been on the road together for so long – both in terms of the number of years, but also this particular trip. It would have been day 93 or 94 for us today.
“Going into the home stretch [towards Beijing], to not be able to see it through with the team is really devastating both for me personally and for my friends on the team.”
Speaking from Munich airport just before boarding his flight, O’Callaghan said he was still coming to terms with the accident.
“There is a lot to process,” he said.
“I think the biggest emotion at the moment is emptiness. I’m obviously very sad but I don’t think the true extent of the disappointment or sadness will kick in until everyone’s over there in the Games environment and competing and on TV.
“That’s when I think it will become real and when I think I will fully digest what’s happened, but at this point, it’s really just a feeling of emptiness.”
O’Callaghan, who has cerebral palsy, made his Winter Paralympic Games debut in 2018. He was preparing to compete in all five alpine disciplines in Beijing with the aim to improve his best Paralympic result, 22nd in downhill.
His withdrawal reduces the number of athletes on the 2022 Australian Winter Paralympic Team to six alpine skiers and two sighted guides, alongside Para-snowboarder Ben Tudhope.
Kate McLoughlin, the Australian Paralympic Team Chef de Mission, said the loss of O’Callaghan’s character and presence around the team would be felt.
“Our thoughts are with Jonty, this is an incredibly difficult situation,” she said.
“Elite alpine skiing has inherent risks, which is one of the reasons why these athletes are so incredible. Unfortunately, injuries are part of the sport but there is a sense of great injustice when an injury like this occurs so close to a Paralympic Games.
“We will stay in constant contact with him and ensure that the team culture he has helped to build over several years remains as strong as ever, despite this hugely disappointing setback.
“Under the circumstances, Jonty has shown remarkable poise and maturity which is a measure of the person he is. As a team, we are right behind him on his road to recovery and he will continue to play an important role in our campaign from home.”
By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 21 February 2022
Image: L Percival / International Paralympic Committee
