Lara
Falk

Lara Falk looks a chance to hit the slopes at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games following a stellar 2016/17 season as the sighted guide to vision impaired alpine skier Patrick Jensen.

As sighted guide to Patrick, she skis ahead of him and issues voice commands and information about changes in pitch, rhythm and snow conditions, all the while racing at speeds of up to 105km/h.

Initially aiming to compete at Beijing 2022, the duo have been working hard to achieve genuine medal contender status for PyeongChang 2018, gaining crucial international experience at the 2017 IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, where they posted career-best scores in the men’s Giant Slalom and Super-G to finish third in both events.

Off the back of these results, Lara and Patrick made their World Championships debut at the 2017 World Para-alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, a moment which ranks among the highlights of her career to date. There they clocked a combined time of 1:47.91 to finish ninth in a competitive field of 29 in the Slalom.

The Cooriemungle local takes inspiration from American alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medallist Mikaela Shiffrin, whose success she hopes to match by working hard to achieve the best possible result.

Lara began a Bachelor of Urban, Rural and Environmental Planning at La Trobe University in Melbourne, before deferring in early 2016. Ultimately, she’d like to work in resort management, but in the meantime, she enjoys spending her spare time watching House of Cards, surfboat and riverboat rowing, and surf lifesaving.