Sport Week: Ones to watch for Para Alpine Skiing

Racing down the slopes at speeds of 100km/h per hour, sometimes without sight, few sports deliver the same thrills and spills as Para Alpine Skiing. Here are the big names you cannot miss competing at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

Marie Bochet (FRA)

Marie Bochet is the doyenne of women’s Para Alpine Skiing. A celebrity in France thanks to her impressive achievements, Bochet has amassed an incredible eight Paralympic and 21 world titles in a glittering career spanning 13 years. That places her amongst the top five in the all-time rankings.

Bochet excels at all levels, and across technical and speed disciplines in the women’s standing. 

At the 2015 World Championships she swept all five golds in the downhill, super-G, slalom, super-combined and giant slalom – the first female athlete to do so - following that up at PyeongChang 2018 to become the most decorated French Para Alpine skier of all time.

At the age of 27, Bochet is not done yet.

Jeroen Kampschreur (NED)

Jeroen Kampschreur made his Paralympic debut in 2018 off the back of an incredible first World Championships where he grabbed a trio of golds from the men’s sitting.

Not content with being the only Dutch skier to win a world title – let alone three - Kampschreur cemented his place in the history books at PyeongChang 2018 at the age of just 19. He became the first athlete from his country to win a Paralympic medal of any colour in Alpine Skiing with gold in the super-combined.

Giacomo Bertagnolli (ITA)

A self-confessed “positive, crazy, determined, guy”, Giacomo Bertagnolli left PyeongChang 2018 with four medals, including two golds, from his debut in the men’s vision impaired.

He also delighted at his home World Championships in 2017, grabbing the spotlight with guide and school friend Fabrizio Casal by claiming three podium finishes.

In 2019, he split from Casal to compete with Andrea Ravelli. The pair quickly picked-up the pace, claiming multiple victories across disciplines to show that they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with at Beijing 2022.

Adam Hall (NZL)

Adam Hall will be competing at his fifth Paralympic Winter Games at Beijing 2022. A career of ups and downs has meant the New Zealander has never won a world title, but did secure two golds at the 2010 and 2018 Paralympics in the men’s slalom standing.

As a result he is one of his country’s most successful and established winter Paralympians, and his life is one lived in the sport. He met his now wife and fellow Para Alpine kier, Eltisa, on a chairlift at a training camp ahead of his Paralympic debut at Torino 2006.

Andrew Kurka (USA)

Among a sea of successful Para Alpine skiers from the USA, Andrew Kurka stands out from the crowd.

Due to compete at Sochi 2014, his daredevil style saw him break his back in a training run to dash his hopes of a Paralympic debut.

That was the third time Kurka had sustained such injuries. Originally doing so at the age of 13 which led to his partial paraplegia, Kurka found himself in the same position during practice for the 2011 Winter X Games.

Despite – or maybe because of - his all or nothing approach, Kurka emerged onto the top of the podium in the men’s downhill sitting at PyeongChang 2018, adding to his World title from a few months before.

After a decade on the national team, and having gotten engaged to partner Veronica Quezada, Kurka now has a better understanding of where and when to push the limits. 

Henrieta Farkasova (SVK)

Making an immediate impact at her first Paralympic Winter Games, Henrieta Farkasova has barely left the podium since winning triple gold at Vancouver 2010.

With a further six gold medals, Farkasova’s success places her as the third most decorated Winter Paralympian of all time.

At Beijing, the Slovakian will get the chance to increase her tally in the women’s vision impaired category.

Jesper Pedersen (NOR)

Jesper Pedersen shot to fame at PyeongChang 2018 as Norway’s only Paralympic gold medallist.
The sit skier picked up the title in the giant slalom.

Pedersen says his exploits at the last Paralympic Winter Games have delivered him new fame. He is now hoping to achieve similar levels of attention as the likes of Olympic champion and compatriot Aksel Lund Svindal.

Ebba Aarsjoe (SWE)

A former able-bodied skier before Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome caused muscle reduction in her right leg, Ebba Aaarsjoe has made a big impact in a short space of time on the Para Alpine Skiing circuit.

Debuting in the 2019-2020 World Cup season, Aarsjoe topped the 2021 World Championships podium twice in the women’s standing.

The 20-year-old Swede is currently one of the top skiers in her category and a strong gold medal contender. 

Anna-Lena Forster (GER)

Anna-Lena Forster delivered an amazing comeback at PyeongChang 2018.

After crashing in the downhill and just missing out on the podium with fourth in the women’s super-G sitting, the German pulled on all her reserves to win double gold in the super-combined and slalom.

Forster’s career has taken her through some highs and lows. An impressive debut at Sochi 2014 saw her leave with three medals but at the World Championships the following year, the sit-skier was disappointed with her single bronze from the slalom.

More recently though, Forster has been nearly unstoppable. She picked up her first world title in 2019, unsurprisingly in the slalom, and finished top of the standings in the World Cup slalom and super-combined last season.

Zhang Mengqiu (CHN)

Carrying the hopes of a nation in the women’s standing for the hosts of Beijing 2022 is Zhang Mengqiu.

In 2020, Zhang won China’s first ever World Cup gold, outracing skiers such as France’s Marie Bochet in the giant slalom standing. A further three gold and silver medals followed for Zhang that season.

Having started skiing like a lot of her teammates just a few years ago, Zhang has had a lot of learning and training to do to be able to compete with the best skiers in her category. Now she will be hoping to land China’s first ever Paralympic Alpine Skiing podium, and maybe even gold.