Corey Peters has delivered a bronze medal for New Zealand on the first day of competition at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. The sit skier finished the Men’s Downhill Sitting competition in a time of 1:26.01, 1.9s behind gold medallist, Andrew Kurka of the USA and 1.64s behind silver medallist, Taika Morii of Japan. The tough course saw 6 DNFs amongst 26 competitors.
The New Zealand flag bearer from last night’s Opening Ceremony delivered a stupendous run sixth out of the gates, which saw him initially sitting in silver, before dropping into the bronze position a few runs on. Thus, began a nervous wait for Peters, as he sat in the winner’s box as another 18 competitors took to the slopes, aiming to knock him out of his third place spot. Tension ratcheted up to its highest when the Polish competitor, Igor Sikorski, set faster sector times through the top of the run, but a heavy slide put him out of contention and Peters only had another 2 competitors to wait out.
Peters bronze medal is the latest in his medal cabinet, after a silver medal in Sochi 2014 in his favoured Men’s Giant Slalom, which Peters has yet to contest at these Games.
The result came hard on the heels of a fantastic 5th place from veteran Para skier Adam Hall, who beat out a very strong field of 29 competitors in the Men’s Downhill Standing. Initially sitting in the bronze medal position, Hall slowly slipped down but showed very good signs of things yet to come.
About the Men’s Downhill Sitting Competition
Each athlete competes one run down the course with their finish time determining the final order based on ascending time. Athletes ski down a long, steep course and must pass through a relatively few number of gates. If an athlete misses a gate they are disqualified. For weather, safety and other reasons, the jury can decide to have two-run downhill if the vertical drop does not comply.
About Corey Peters
Sit skier Corey Peters, whose silver medal on debut at Sochi 2014 saw him return home as the only New Zealand medallist, Paralympic or Olympic, will start PyeongChang 2018 ranked 3rd and 8th in the world for Men’s Super-G Sitting and Downhill Sitting respectively. The New Plymouth native will contest both these events, along with two additional, the Men’s Super Combined and Giant Slalom Sitting. Peters competes in Sport Class LW12-1, for athletes with an impairment affecting both legs. Peters’ sustained a crushed spinal cord in 2009, following a motocross accident. His exceptional aptitude saw him win a gold and two silvers at recent World Cups in 2017 and two silvers at the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships. Read more here on this link.
