Hanlon Back In Business After Confidence-Boosting Alpine Combined 

Australia’s technical wizard Josh Hanlon is primed for his Friday 13^th date with destiny after a confidence-boosting showing in the second part of the alpine combined event at the Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games on Tuesday.  

Sit skier Hanlon was 16^th after the super-G component of the two-discipline event before he produced a powerful slalom to push up to 12^th overall in the field of 24.  

At his maiden Games, at Beijing 2022, Hanlon came sixth in the slalom and 11th in the giant slalom. Since then, he has scored consistently good results in the technical events, including a bronze medal at a World Cup event in Germany this season. 

“Back on the short ski, usually where I’m more comfortable and, yeah, it was a lot of fun,” he said after his second run. “I think I was linking turns a bit better than I have done in speed in the last couple.  

“We’re into tech now… Today I think was just a bit of a confidence boost, rip some turns in slalom and take that into the next couple of days of racing.” 

Hanlon said he will work with coaching staff over the next two days. Wednesday is a rest day for Para alpine skiing at the Games, before the women’s giant slalom events take place on Thursday.  

“We take everything from that run, watch the video, watch the other guys and how they’ve run things and take that into the race, for sure,” he said. 

“It was a tough couple of days (in the speed events of downhill and super-G), but I’m glad we got over the line and can actually have something to show for the last few days.” 

Meanwhile, Michael Milton’s comeback continued with a 13^th placing in the alpine combined standing class in a field of 26. 

Milton said he didn’t have the same level of fear as he had super-G the previous day.  

“I’ve been able to keep a lid on that a little bit better,” he said.  

“When it comes to slalom it doesn’t have the same intimidation factor that the super-G hill does. It doesn’t have the speed, it doesn’t have the risk.” 

Milton reflected that a lot had changed since he was last in Paralympic competition 20 years ago.   

“I’m older, a different person to what I was 20 years ago, my family’s here watching,” he said.  

“That changes my perspective on things a little bit. It’s different, but at the same time, there’s the increase in scale, increase in professionalism, increase in media exposure – lots of good things.” 

Hanlon and Milton will be back in action on Friday for the giant slalom and on Sunday for the slalom.  

David Sygall, Paralympics Australia