Sit-skier Sam Tait acquired paraplegia at 22 when he broke his T11 vertebrae in a motorcycle accident in Wollongong, NSW. Three days after being airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, he woke with no recollection of the accident and spent the following three months in intensive rehabilitation.
Having already been an experienced able-bodied skier, Tait knew of the opportunities available in sport for people with a disability and soon fell in love with sit-skiing on the slopes of Perisher, where his parents owned the Corroboree Ski Lodge.
At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, he competed in five events, finishing 11th in the Men’s Downhill Sitting, 17th in the Men’s Giant Slalom Sitting and did not finish in three events.
Leading up to those Games, under the guidance of coach Chris McKnight, Tait made his international debut at Landgraaf, the Netherlands, in late 2016 and secured a standout performance at the 2017 IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in Veysonnaz, Switzerland the following year, where he placed fourth in the men’s Super-G.
At the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, he finished sixth in the Men’s Downhill Sitting and 10th in the Men’s Giant Slalom Sitting.
At the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, Tait competed in three events. Unfortunately, he recorded DNFs in both the Men’s Downhill Sitting and the Men’s Super G. In his final event of the Games, the Men’s Giant Slalom Sitting, he finished in 22nd place.
Off the slopes, Tait enjoys keeping active. A CrossFit enthusiast, between 2014 and 2016 he trained nearly every day at a CrossFit gym in Braemar, NSW, achieving a top 10 ranking in the adaptive division of the International CrossFit Games.
Tait is working towards achieving his ultimate goal of winning gold at the Paralympic Games, motivated by the success of his hero, Rio 2016 Co-captain and three-time Paralympic gold medallist Kurt Fearnley.
Having already completed a two-year course in computer-aided design detailing at TAFE, Tait is tossing up further study in astrophysics, engineering or computing science.
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