James Lawrence Paterson, is an Australian Paralympic skier who has cerebral palsy.

Personal life

Paterson was from Terrigal, New South Wales and a marine mechanic for Halvorsen Boats. After the 1994 Games, Paterson thanked the Terrigal community and his employer for supporting his overseas preparation.

Skiing career

At the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Paralympics, Paterson competed in four events and won a silver medal in the Men's Downhill LW9 event and a bronze medal in the Men's Giant Slalom LW9 event. In 1996, at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, he won a silver medal and two bronze medals. At the

1998 Winter Paralympics The , the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remain ...

, he was team captain and competed in four events. He won a gold medal in the Men's Downhill LW1,3,5/7,9 event and a bronze medal in the Men's Slalom LW9 event Between 1997 and 1999, he was an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

Athlete with a Disability scholarship holder. His last major international competition was the 2000 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, where he won a silver medal in the Men's Giant Slalom LW1,3,7,7,9. He announced his retirement in June 2001 citing his lost passion and the cost of competing on his family and finances.

Recognition

In 2000, Paterson received an Australian Sports Medal. In 2008, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition for being a medallist at Paralympics and Disabled World Ski Championships. He has been inducted into the Central Coast Sporting Hall of Fame. Paterson is married to Martina, and has two children, Emily and Cameron.

References

Bibliography

* * Australian male alpine skiers Paralympic alpine skiers of Australia Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Members of the Order of Australia Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic skiers Cerebral Palsy category Paralympic competitors Living people Medalists at the 1994 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Year of birth missing (living people) Paralympic medalists in alpine skiing People from the Central Coast (New South Wales) Sportsmen from New South Wales {{Australia-Paralympic-medalist-stub