Nick Wilson recently travelled to Italy with the Australian Winter Paralympic team. He was the health performance lead for the Para-Nordic skiing group in the small mountain village of Predazzo.
Para-Nordic is a combination of 2 separate events – cross-country skiing and biathlon. The cross-country skiing events cover various distances with a sprint, middle, and long-distance event, and the biathlon combines target shooting with cross-country skiing.
Classifications: Para-Nordic athletes are classified into 3 categories - standing, sitting and vision impaired. Within each of these classes there are different classifications based on the level of impairment the athlete has, and they are given a factored time based on this. An athlete with less impairment will race with a 100% factored time (actual time) and those with higher impairments will be given a time advantage based on the degree of impairment. For example: a higher spinal cord injury in a sit-ski may have an 80% factored time (a 20% time advantage). It is a complicated mathematical system that allows athletes with different levels of physical impairment to compete against each other on a level playing field.
The Team The Australian team consisted of 3 sit-skiers and 1 vision impaired skier. All of our athletes competed across both disciplines of cross-country skiing and biathlon and had a gruelling schedule, racing most days of the Paralympic Games. Our sit-skiers raced in specially designed chairs and propelled themselves with their upper body. Our vision impaired athlete raced with a guide, who instructed the athlete where to go out on course, and they were assisted by acoustic signals when shooting. If an athlete missed a target they had to ski a penalty loop or have a time penalty added to their finishing time.
It was a great experience for Nick to be a part of the team at the Games. The conditions were very tough for the athletes as it was unseasonally warm and the snow conditions were very difficult. This was the first time in 20 years that Australia had fielded a team in this sport, and looking forward to France 2032 we have some serious medal contenders!,
Nick Wilson
APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist
