Pendergast seventh in Paralympic debut

NSWIS sit skier Victoria Pendergast has completed two clean runs in the women’s Slalom (sitting class) to finish in seventh place behind medallists Anna-Lee Forster (GER), Kimberley Joines (CAN) and Lurie Stephens (USA).

In her Paralympic debut Pendergast mastered the tricky conditions to secure a top 10 result.

"It’s a nice experience for me at the end. Given the conditions and everything we’ve faced here I’m pretty happy to make it down,’’ the 23-year-old said. "I think I could have skied a little better, but it was definitely a bumpy ride.’’ 

Australian Winter Paralympics head coach Steve Graham was particularly impressed by Pedergast’s performance. 

"Tori I thought was really good. It’s her first Games and two solid runs – probably her most solid of the season, especially in these kind of conditions and this kind of hill. So that was promising looking to the future,’’ Graham said.

Pendergast will contest the Giant Slalom on Sunday March 16, as will vision-impaired skier Melissa Perrine, whilst NSWIS Para-snowboard cross riders Joany Badenhorst, Trent Milton and 14-year-old sensation Ben Tudhope will make their Paralympic debuts on Friday March 14.

Perrine will be out for redemption after being disqualified in the women’s Super Combined on Tuesday. Perrine and her guide Andy Bor took full responsibility for their mistake in adding a visor to her ski helmet to protect her eyes from the bright lights.

The pair suffered the ultimate penalty of disqualification from the Super Combined event, after the first component of the race – the Slalom. Perrine and Bor was in the silver medal position but will now not be able to compete in the Super-G on Friday to complete the Super Combined.

Perrine and Bor were back on the Rosa Khutor slopes on Wednesday competing in the stand-alone Slalom event for vision-impaired, but Perrine slipped over just a couple of gates from the top and did not complete the course.