Team Co-captain Gourley gets so close once again

Australian Paralympic Team Co-captain Mitch Gourley enjoyed his third top-10 finish at the PyeongChang 2018 Games but yet again, a first Paralympic medal for the Victorian has eluded him.

And for a second time in this South Korean campaign, he was in bronze medal position after his first run. It happened in the Super Combined on Tuesday – where he finished 5th – and it happened in the Slalom today – where he finished 6th. He also has an 8th from the Giant Slalom on Wednesday.

It seems the Paralympic gods are against Gourley getting a medal hung around his neck. He is a three-time Paralympian and in eight previous races in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, Gourley had three top-10 finishes.

He is the reigning world champion in the Super Combined from the 2017 IPC Para-alpine skiing World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy. He has seven gold medals from World Cup series racing. The quality is undeniably there but success seems so evasive at a Paralympic Games.

“I don’t think that anything that I did up there today was any different to what I do any other day of the year or any day in the cycle,” Gourley said.

WATCH:  After a sensational first run in the Slalom, Mitch Gourley was in contention for his first Paralympic medal however he was unable to replicate it for his second attempt and finished in sixth place.

WATCH:  What a week for Australia's Paralympic snowboarders! Simon Patmore won two medals from two events, while Ben Tudhope and Sean Pollard achieved an incredible top 10 finish.

Paralympian Patmore thanks Gallagher for being part of his journey

Dual PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic medallist Simon Patmore drew inspiration from Para-alpine skier turned Para-cyclist Jessica Gallagher, when he bit the bullet and decided he wanted to be a Summer and Winter Paralympian.

While there are many athletes who have switched sports within their seasonal Games – for example Dylan Alcott winning double gold in wheelchair tennis in Rio after winning gold and silver with the men’s wheelchair basketball team at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 – there have only been six Australian athletes in 42 years that have successfully jumped between Summer and Winter.

And only two have won medals in both – Patmore and Gallagher.

“I know how hard it is,” Patmore said, of converting a 200m sprint bronze at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, to gold and bronze in the snowboard cross and banked slalom respectively, at the PyeongChang 2018 Games.

Catch all the best moments from the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics each day from 11am on 7mate. Check your local guides for all details.