{"id":893329,"date":"2026-03-21T04:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/21\/say-a-prayer-and-send-it-paralympic-skiers-embrace-fear-on-high-speed-slopes\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T04:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:12:15","slug":"say-a-prayer-and-send-it-paralympic-skiers-embrace-fear-on-high-speed-slopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/21\/say-a-prayer-and-send-it-paralympic-skiers-embrace-fear-on-high-speed-slopes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Say a prayer and send it\u2019: Paralympic skiers embrace fear on high-speed slopes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"French <\/picture><\/div>\n

French athlete Arthur Bauchet competes in the alpine skiing combined event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Cortina D\u2019Ampezzo on March 10, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Friday, 13 Mar 2026 9:00 PM MYT<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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CORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO (Italy), March 13 \u2014 What does it take to rocket down an icy sheet of Dolomite rock at over 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) when missing a limb or suffering visual impairment?<\/p>\n

Athletes at the Milan-Cortina Paralympics opened up about the sheer thrill \u2014 and challenge \u2014 of being elite alpine skiers, offering a glimpse into the speed, precision and fearlessness their sport demands.<\/p>\n

Alpine skiing at the Winter Paralympics is divided into three categories.<\/p>\n

Vision impaired competitors follow a guide down the piste, using a radio to communicate. Those who have a complete loss of vision ski in blacked-out goggles.<\/p>\n

In the standing and sitting categories, many entrants are missing one or more limbs.<\/p>\n

Athletes can compete in up to five disciplines, with the downhill reaching the greatest speeds.<\/p>\n

Meg Gustafson, an American visually impaired skier, said that before a downhill: \u201cI say a little prayer and then I send it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 16-year-old is classified as AS4, which means she can detect a squash-ball sized object at a maximum distance of six metres. She likened racing down Cortina\u2019s 2,105-metre Olympia delle Tofane piste to \u201cflying\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an indescribable feeling, especially in downhill… It feels like you\u2019re flying is the best way I can describe it. And just like being one with the hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her team-mate Allie Johnson called the downhill in the Italian Alps \u201cthe scariest thing I\u2019ve ever done\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing scared and doing things scared, that\u2019s what it is to me,\u201d said the 31-year-old. \u201cIt\u2019s not being scared, it\u2019s doing things even when you\u2019re scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

American Anna Soens crashed early in her Paralympic debut in Cortina \u2014 the first-ever downhill race of her career.<\/p>\n

Asked what the experience had taught her, the sitting skier grinned and said: \u201cLand straighter!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Race and survive\u2019\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even the most experienced and successful athletes know that their fortunes on the mountain hang on the finest of margins.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t set the line where you have to, you\u2019re (expletive),\u201d said Swedish downhill standing gold medallist Ebba Aarsjoe.<\/p>\n

High-speed crashes can result in terrible injuries for any skier. US skiing legend Lindsey Vonn nearly lost a leg after her fall on the same course in last month\u2019s Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

Australian Paralympian Michael Milton, who skies on one leg, was tempted out of retirement to compete at the Milan-Cortina Games \u2014 much like Vonn \u2014 and the 52-year-old said the buzz was what drew him back.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things you come back for is the emotion. It\u2019s the pressure. It\u2019s the feeling of standing at the start, (soiling) your pants because you\u2019re scared of what you\u2019re about to ski down, and then having the mental side of things, to be able to overcome that,\u201d Milton said.<\/p>\n

For Slovakia\u2019s Alexandra Rexova, already a double bronze medallist in the women\u2019s visual impaired category, the risks are worth taking.<\/p>\n

\u201cSkiing means everything. I\u2019m visually impaired. I\u2019m a disabled person, so it opened new doors for me,\u201d the 20-year-old said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I can race here, to know many other athletes from other countries and enjoy the time here and race and survive.\u201d \u2014 AFP\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Malay Mail
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French athlete Arthur Bauchet competes in the alpine skiing combined event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Cortina D\u2019Ampezzo on March 10, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic (New users only) Unlock 5.5%* + 10%* p.a. promo rate for 3 months via Versa and enjoy FREE RM10 & when you sign up using code<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":893330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36857,36506],"tags":[138778,21593],"class_list":{"0":"post-893329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-say","8":"category-prayer","9":"tag-prayer","10":"tag-say"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}