Paralympic Skier Finishes In Top 20

Paralympic skier Peter Williams has finished a creditable 20th overall in
the men's Giant Slalom - sitting at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympics.

Williams from Auckland completed his first run in a time of 1min
34.16seconds to place 27th. However the weather became too treacherous with
high winds moving banners and then disrupting timing mechanisms and overall
conditions meant the second race was delayed twice before being completed.

Eventually Williams finished in a combined time of 3min 11.86seconds moving
up the table seven places. The winner was Germany's Martin Braxenthaler in a
time of 2min 37.40seconds.

Williams says that the weather made for a tough day.

"I was up at 5.15am and on the hill at 6.30 before returning off the
mountain around 5pm," says Williams "The weather was terrible for the first
run you could only see three or four gates ahead through the rain. It was a
pretty challenging day. I gave it heaps in the second run and was pleased to
move up the order. I know I learnt a lot from this experience and will be
stronger for it," says Williams.

Meanwhile, Tuesday's Slalom gold medalist, Adam Hall will not race in the
Giant Slalom on Thursday (New Zealand time) as he will save himself for his
two other events, the Super G on Sunday (NZ time) and Super Combined Monday
(NZ time).

"It's a tactical decision. The Giant Slalom is not his strongest event and
is physically pretty taxing. We want him in good form for the Super G and
Super Combined," says New Zealand Chef de Mission, Jon Turnbull.


www.paralympics.org.nz

http://www.vancouver2010.com/paralympic-games/