Gold, Bronze, Gold!

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 528, 22 March 1994, Page 12

Gold, Bronze, Gold!

ver medallist. "Racing dosen't come much closer than this," he said last week. "Of course if s difficult coming so close to gold and missing out - but I have to bo pleased with my performance." Patrick said the ice forced him to curb his natural tendancy to ski "all out" and cost him the gold medal. His bronze medal performance was preceded by a disappointing run in the men's downhill earlier in the week, when he was disqualified after missing a gate. "I was very eager but I just wasn't steady enough on my skis," Patrick said. He took his first gold medal in the Super G last Tuesday. A firm favourite for the event, Patrick blitzed the field with a time of 1:13.24 seconds. "I was a little nervous at the start because of my experience in the downhill, but once again I knew it was a case of all or nothing," he said. In taking two golds and a bronze, Patrick' s personal medal tally from three Paralympics is up to six - a silver in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1988: two golds at Albertville, France, in 1992 and his three Lillehammer wins. Patrick' s latest medal brings the New Zealand team's tally to six - three gold and three bronze - and the most successful Paralympics medal bid by a •New Zealand team, ever.