New Zealander Peter Williams competes in the men's sit-down
slalom at the Winter Paralympics at Whistler, in Canada,
yesterday. Photo by Getty Images.
An incredible experience was how New Zealand 2010 Winter
Paralympic Games athlete, Peter Williams described his first
event in Vancouver.
Williams was not meant to race in the men's sit-down slalom
until later in the week, but had his races moved forward as a
result of heavy weather disrupting other events.
In his first run, Williams was 25th of 42 finishers in
57.38sec .
However, as the day wore on and weather delayed the second
run, the slopes cut up and the majority of competitors were
actually slower in their second turn.
Williams finished his second race up the order, but in a
slower time, for a combined time of 2min 05.55sec.
His overall result put him at 22nd after his two races.
The event was won by German Martin Braxenthaler in a combined
time of 1min 41.63sec.
"It was great to get a feel of the slopes.
"I was relatively happy after the first run and really wanted
to step it up in the second, but the conditions were tough
and I was [starting] towards the end.
"It was really rutty out there and the visibility was
limited," said Williams (24), from Auckland, who has spina
bifida and is competing in his first Winter Paralympic Games.
"The second run was slower as a result of the slope getting
really cut up.
"Most of the field were slower.
"Aside from today's race the organisation of the games has
been an incredible experience so far and something I'll never
forget," he said.
He races in the super G tomorrow and said he was ready to
just "go for it".
Dunedin's Adam Hall takes to the slopes for the standing
slalom today, weather permitting, and has been ranked as one
of the world's best in his event.
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