Paralympian Corey Peters has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2023 New Year Honours.
As New Zealand Paralympian #188, Corey has represented New Zealand at three Paralympic Winter Games: Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018 and earlier this year in Beijing 2022.
Corey won medals at each of those Winter Paralympics, but none was more thrilling than seizing gold in one of the first events of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in March 2022.
Competing on a sit-ski, Corey was millimetre perfect in the downhill event, winning the gold in what he described as “the run of his life”. He followed it up the next day with silver in the super-G event, bringing his Paralympic medal tally to 4.
Corey has had an incredible 2022, winning his long sought-after Paralympic gold medal, and then welcoming his first child with partner Karin. Speaking to Stuff, he said he hopes the award inspires other adaptive athletes or those who are at the very beginning of their journey after injury or with a disability.
”It’s obviously a bit of a surprise, but I am pretty stoked, and it is a pretty awesome achievement after the years of dedication with the sport.”
