New Zealand's Paralympic skiers got their campaigns under way last night, with contrasting outcomes.
Adam Hall, slalom standing gold medallist in Vancouver four years ago, was flying in his super G run, right up at gold medal pace, before hitting a series of ruts and tumbling to record a dnf. It was tough for the Otago athlete, who was born with spina bifida. It is not his specialist event but his speed work has been a source of considerable pleasure in recent months leading up to the Sochi Games.
Austrian Markus Salcher won his second title in 24 hours, in 1min20.92s.
Hall was one of 15 in the field of 31 who failed to finish their run.
New Plymouth's Corey Peters, a paraplegic with only two years skiing behind him and at his first Paralympics, clocked 1:26.17 in the sitting super G event. That had him in fifth place for a time before eventually ending up sixth. Only 14 of the 31 entrants finished the course so Peters' was a highly creditable effort.
