Trailblazer Viv Gapes (nee Martin) made history at Innsbruck 1984 by becoming New Zealand’s first ever Paralympic Winter Games gold medallist. The vision impaired athlete clinched a gold medal in the Women’s Giant Slalom B2 and silver medals in the Women’s Downhill B2 and Women’s Alpine Combination B2 to achieve a landmark performance.
Born with ocular toxoplasmosis, an infection that caused scar tissue to cover her retinas, Viv has some peripheral vision but can’t drive or read fine print. Raised independently on a sheep and cattle farm in the rural hamlet of Waithuna in Otago, Viv was introduced to Para alpine skiing while at the University of Otago.
Initially admitting she was a bit of “scaredy cat” she nonetheless worked hard at her craft and earned a spot on the NZ Paralympic Team for Innsbruck 1984. Competing with sighted guide, Mike Curzon, who also worked as the team physiotherapist, she made history in Austria with her three-medal haul.
Viv would repeat that triple medal haul two years later at the Para Alpine Skiing World Championships in Sweden before retiring from the sport.
Today Viv lives in Auckland. She has three children and two grandchildren.
Read her Paralympics NZ Trailblazers story here.
Viv officially received her ‘numbered’ Paralympic pin as part of The Celebration Project in Auckland in May 2019.
