Milton Announces Shock Return 

Paralympic great Michael Milton OAM has less than five months to achieve the barely believable: a return to top level skiing at the Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games nearly 20 years since he initially retired from competition.  

Encouraged by good results at the recent Para-Alpine National Championships in the NSW Snowy Mountains, Milton has announced he will head to Europe for the upcoming northern winter where he will attempt to post the times necessary for potential Australian Paralympic Team selection. 

The 52-year-old, a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS)  alumni, who won six Paralympic gold medals between 1992 and 2002, aims to qualify in the Para-alpine skiing events in which he made his name.  

He faces an enormous challenge. Apart from his many years away from competition, Milton has survived multiple cancer diagnoses and broke his hip during a skiing trip in Europe last winter.  

“I’ve always thrived on big challenges and, having survived cancer for a third time, I need them now more than ever,” Milton said in his announcement.   

“The recovery from my fall has been tough but, while skiing in Thredbo over winter, I realised that the 2026 Paralympic Games could be my next big project, that it could provide the motivation I need to get out of bed each day, to train and to be as healthy as I can be.” 

Milton’s results at the National Championships qualified him to race in the World Cup series in giant slalom. He will train in Austria from mid-November and race during December. The Australian Paralympic Team – which will also include representatives in Para-snowboard and Para-biathlon – is due to be finalised by February 15. The Milano Cortina Paralympic Games starts on March 6.  

“I’ve already produced the results to qualify in giant slalom and I’m confident I can work hard and race well enough in Europe to post the times I need to also compete in the other four disciplines,” Milton said.   

“At 52, I may not be as fit and strong as once was, but I definitely have experience and mental toughness on my side. 

“After everything I’ve been through – two cancer battles since my retirement from ski racing 20 years ago, surgeries, post-cancer fatigue – it might sound crazy to be thinking about elite racing again. 

“But skiing is what I love. It’s who I am. Setting a big goal like this gives me focus, motivation and energy. I don’t want to sit still; I want to live as fully as I can.” 

Australian Paralympic Team Chef de Mission Ben Troy said he welcomed Milton’s return to competition.

“Michael is an icon of Australian sport and our greatest Winter Paralympian,” Troy said. “In many ways, he put Paralympic Winter sport on the map in this country.  

“Whatever the circumstances and however unlikely it may seem for him to return to the Paralympic Games after so long, you never write off a champion. 

“The reality is that we have some very strong contenders for Paralympic qualification and selection in alpine skiing, such as Beijing 2022 representative Josh Hanlon, (NSWIS) who is now up among the world’s very best, and exciting up-and-comers like Liana France and Georgia Gunew and her guide Ethan Jackson. 

“Michael competed strongly at Thredbo with all our squad there which no doubt gave him the belief he needed to give this a real crack. Certainly, if Michael does manage to represent Australia again at the Games next March, it would be the latest in a long list of great achievements.” 

Milton competed at five Paralympic Winter Games between 1988 and 2006, winning 11 medals, including six gold, four of which he won at Salt Lake City 2002. He also holds the all-time speed skiing record for an athlete with a disability of 213.65 km/h.  

In 2002, Milton was Australian Paralympian of the Year and Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2014 and last year was elevated to Legend status.  

 David Sygall, Paralympics Australia