Winter is coming!

Volume 10 Number 2 February 10 - March 9 2014

Mitch Gourly on the slopes in North America last year. Photo: Michael Knauss
Mitch Gourly on the slopes in North America last year. Photo: Michael Knauss

 

While the Sochi Winter Olympic Games are now in full swing, the countdown continues for the Paralympic Winter Games which start on 7 March, with two members of the University’s community in with real medal chances. By David Scott.

When Bachelor of Commerce student Mitchell Gourley took the call that officially named him in the Australian Paralympic team for the Sochi games, it was just the next step in a journey that started on the slopes of Victoria’s alpine region when he was 11. 

“It’s always a nice feeling to confirm your selection and get rid of any lingering doubts in the lead up to a major event,” Mr Gourley says.

“But by now, it’s more of a relief than anything else. It’s a nice confirmation that things are going well, but also an important reminder that the end goal is fast approaching.”

Mr Gourley, a High Performance scholar at Melbourne University Sport who first represented Australia at age 15 and is now in his eighth season of international competition, is one of Australia’s leading medal hopes at the games.  He’ll compete across all five alpine events: Downhill, Super-Combined, Super G, Slalom and Giant Slalom. 

“Ultimately I want to win the Giant Slalom, however ski-racing is a fickle sport and really anything can happen on that one day in four years. I’m really hoping to come home with a medal of some colour from one of the technical events, and any success in the speed disciplines is just a bonus for a little guy like me!”

Skiing at high speed is something that Cameron Rhales-Rabula genuinely loves. 

The physiotherapy graduate and former High Performance scholar will be taking part in his fourth winter games in Russia. 

“The freedom to ski so fast, it’s a great feeling. It’s a very balanced and rhythmical sort of sport, and I’d say we probably ski quicker than 99 per cent of those getting around a mountain.

“As much as I love other sports, when I lost my leg to cancer at 13 I just wasn’t able to compete at the same level any more. Yet skiing gives me that freedom and it’s always something different, travelling around the world taking in different terrain and different conditions.”

A career as a competitive skier was never really something he had considered until a series of opportunities presented themselves during high school. 

“Just ten days after my surgery I was on a skiing trip at Mt Buller for kids who had been affected by cancer. I still had the bandages on, and it was the first time I’d gone skiing on one leg. It was just the greatest thing!

“When I did my first interschools event a few years later I thought it would be a great way to get a few days off school, but I came in the top 50 of around 350 able-bodied kids. The head instructor at Buller saw me and suggested I take up racing properly and put me in touch with the Australian head coach in Canada. Things just grew from there.”

Mr Rahles-Rabula, a former Australian Paralympian of the Year in 2010, was all but retired by mid-2013 and admits that despite a long and successful skiing resume, he is a ‘wildcard’ for a medal at Sochi. 

“I let the Australian team know last year that despite my desire to make it to a fourth games, with a young family I couldn’t commit to the extensive overseas training (up to five months of the year) and other commitments, so after 13 years it was time for a break.

“The team were really supportive and let me know that if I stayed fit and skiing, even locally, they would be happy to get me over there for a fourth and final games. So it’s been a bit of a win-win for everyone.

“It’s going to be a challenge in terms of my level of skiing, I certainly won’t be as prepared as some of the other guys, but I have still been skiing well and my passion is still there. I’m just going to enjoy this last month of competitive skiing and the atmosphere of the Games. It will also be nice not to have the same pressure for results that some of the others may have.”

The University will be well represented in Russia, with five students or alumni making up part of the 56-athlete squad, the largest Australia has ever sent to a Winter Games. 

While Mr Gourley and Mr Rahles-Rabula will fly the flag in the Winter Paralympic Games, Katya Crema (ski cross), Anton Grimus (ski cross) and Brodie Summers (moguls) will all be aiming for gold in the Winter Olympic Games.

As for the thrill of the sport, Mr Gourley concludes that skiing provides equal amounts of elation and heartache. 

“It’s a tough sport, with just as many bad days as good ones, but that’s what makes the good ones really count. You know you’ve earned it!“

Follow our athletes on Twitter: @mitchgourley, @katyacrema, @antongrimus, @MU_Sport. 

Read more about Melbourne University Sport’s Elite Athlete program: 

 

www.sport.unimelb.edu.au/EliteAthleteProgram.