Patrick Cooper leaves U.S.

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 31, 19 January 1988, Page 16

Patrick Cooper leaves U.S.

Waimarino disabled skier Patrick Cooper has left the US after training and racing at Winter Park, Colorado, for the Disabled Winter Olympics to be held at Innsbruck, Austria. He is one of three in the New Zealand team that has a manager and two support crew in attendance. Competitions start at Innsbruck around 20 January. Patrick was to have a good run-up of races to the Olympics, but the German Nationals which he had hoped to compete in were cancellcd.

In the US he has been training hard under a new coach and says his skiing is improving all the time. There was plenty of snow with all but two ski runs open. In regional races there in mid-December Patrick won the giant slalom event beating the number two US racer by two seconds each run. He came second in the super G, behind the director of the handicapped race programme, who is a double below-the-knee amputee. Patrick said the temperature dropped to -47°C one night there in early January. He said the following morning a motorist whose car was parked outside tried t o drive away but three of his tyres shredded in the attempt because of the extreme temperature. After the Olympics Patrick plans to spend time in London and Europe before returning to the US for more training and racing.