The NZ Paralympic Team boasts a rich and proud history at the Paralympic Winter Games. Since first contesting the quadrennial event at Geilo 1980, the Team has snared a magnificent 35 medals including 17 gold. With the latest edition in Milano Cortina 2026 (6-15 March) rapidly coming into view, we reflect on the journey undertaken by the NZ Paralympic Team at the premier winter Para sport competition. In our first part we take a trip down memory lane to encompass the 1980 to 1998 Winter Paralympic Games.
While the NZ Paralympic Team had no representation at the inaugural Ornskoldsvik 1976 Paralympic Winter Games in Sweden, a trailblazing Team of three Para alpine skiers – Paralympians #27 Peter Baddeley, #28 Ed Nichols and #29 Craig Philip – proudly flew the Kiwi flag at Geilo 1980.
The groundbreaking Team performed with pride, with Philip delivering the best performance, a pair of seventh place finishes in the Men’s Slalom 3B and Men’s Giant Slalom 3B.
Philip was the only returning Paralympian who featured at Innsbruck 1984, a landmark Paralympic Winter Games for the NZ Paralympic Team. Competing against their heavyweight rivals from the Northern Hemisphere, the Team of eight Para athletes with no funding, no high performance support and no international experience, miraculously captured five medals to finish 11th overall on the medal table.
Paralympian #46 Christopher Orr made history as the first Kiwi to win a Paralympic Winter Games medal, securing a silver medal in the Men’s Downhill B1. While fellow vision impaired Para alpine skier Paralympian #45 Viv Gapes went one better in the Women’s Giant Slalom B2 to claim the historic first NZ Paralympic Team gold at a Paralympic Winter Games. Gapes went on to add silver medals in the Women’s Downhill B2 and the Women’s Alpine Combination B2 to defy expectations with an outstanding display. A fifth medal at Innsbruck 1984 was secured by Paralympian #44 Mark Edwards in the Men’s Downhill LW3.
For Orr to win a medal at Innsbruck 1984 made a seismic impact.
“It changed my life”, said Orr. “It was not something I would talk about very often, but as a Paralympic medallist meant other people treated you differently.”
Gapes articulatled similar thoughts in the aftermath of her success at Innsbruck 1984.
“Winning gold gave me so much self-confidence, which was just wonderful,” she says. “I learned so many things like goalsetting and self-discipline. It showed me what I was capable of, and it gave me so many life skills. My competitive skiing years were a hugely exciting time in my life, and I have always been grateful for the opportunity.”
A team of three Para athletes earned selected for the fourth edition of the Paralympic Winter Games at Innsbruck 1988, with one returning Paralympian #40 Ed Bickerstaff and two debutants – #55 Patrick Cooper and #56 Lorraine Te Punga. The small NZ Paralympic Team performed well, claiming seven top ten finishes led by a silver medal in the Men’s Slalom LW4 for Cooper – who would go on to become New Zealand’s most decorated Winter Paralympian.
If Cooper had hinted at his future potential at Innsbruck 1988, by the Albertville 1992 Paralympic Winter Games, he was a fully-fledged star. The single below knee amputee grabbed double gold in the Men’s Slalom LW4 and Men’s Super-G LW4 – winning the former event by a huge victory margin of more than three-and-a-half seconds. The seven-strong NZ Paralympic Team – including five debutants – impressed with eight top ten finishes and New Zealand finished 11th in the medal table.
The Lillehammer 1994 Paralympic Winter Games is remembered as one of the finest ever for the NZ Paralympic Team. Comprising seven Para athletes, the Team claimed a hugely impressive haul of six medals (three gold and three bronze) to finish tenth in the medal table. Cooper once again led the way, successfully defending his Men’s Slalom LW4 and Men’s Super-G LW4 titles and added bronze in the Men’s Giant Slalom LW4. His total of six medals still stands as a record for a New Zealand Paralympian at the Paralympic Winter Games. On her Paralympic debut, Vision impaired skier Paralympian #86 Joanne Duffy blasted to gold by a staggering victory margin of more than nine seconds in the Women’s Downhill B1-2 – supported by her guide James Ross – and clinched bronze in the Women’s Super-G B1-2. Competing at his second Paralympic Winter Games Paralympian #71 Kevin O’Sullivan secured bronze in the Men’s Slalom LW1-3 to add further sheen to the showing of the NZ Paralympic Team at Lillehammer 1994.
Cooper was thrilled. Reflecting on his career he added: “If I am proudest of any one thing, it would be defending the gold medals from Albertville two years later in Lillehammer,“ he said. “To win them back-to-back was such a huge moment for a boy from Tongariro, who was first introduced to snow by his dad when we sledded about on plastic bags.”
The NZ Paralympic Team enjoyed its finest ever Paralympic Winter Games at Nagano 1998 winning six medals, including four golds in another unforgettable performance. Paralympian #85 Mathew Butson became the most prolific New Zealand medallist at a single Paralympic Winter Games, winning three gold medals (Men’s Slalom LW9, Men’s Giant Slalom LW9 and Men’s Super-G LW9) and a silver medal in the Men’s Downhill LW1,3,5/7,9. The Invercargill-born leg and arm amputee enjoyed three very different victories, securing gold by a massive eight-and-a-half second margin in the Giant Slalom and by just nine hundredths of a second in the Slalom.
Drawn first, O’Sullivan laid down an early marker in the Men’s Super-G LW1,3,5,7 and remained unsurpassed as he claimed an epic gold medal success. Paralympian #115 Steven Bayley completed the Kiwi podium dwellers in Nagano, as the leg amputee won bronze in the Men’s Giant Slalom LW4.
***The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games takes place from 6-15 March. Follow extensive coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 on TVNZ and on Paralympic New Zealand channels.
