Jessica Gallagher won a bronze medal in the Women’s Visually Impaired Giant Slalom on the final day of competition in Sochi. Gallagher is the first female skier to win a Giant Slalom medal for Australia at the Paralympics. This is her second medal she previously won a bronze in Slalom in the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
“After the past week this Australian team has had, it’s easy to see how difficult this sport is. Just one tiny mistake and it’s all over. So it feels really great to put down two good runs and win that medal,” Gallagher commented.
Gallagher attributed part of her sustained success from Vancouver to Sochi with linking up six months ago with a new sighted guide, former able-bodied representative skier, Christian Geiger. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work and Chri (Christian) came in quite late so to have him around has been so great. I’ve learnt so much from him because he’s such an amazing skier,’’ Gallagher said.
“I’m so relieved,” Geiger said today after the GS second run. “I said to Jess `who would have thought the medal would have come in GS.’ It’s been a long campaign and an interesting one, but so good to ski with Jess and the girls. They have improved so much as a group of athletes”.