Australian sporting legend, Michael Milton, who is in Austria trying to qualify for his seventh Paralympic Games, has been sidelined because he has been unable to find insurance.
The governing body, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), requires all competitors to have insurance that covers ski racing. Michael has travel insurance but has been unable to find cover for ski racing.
“We have left no stone unturned and have come up with nothing. It’s been weeks of work in the mistaken belief that we would be able to find insurance before my first race. And now all I can do is watch from the sidelines.
All I can do now is watch from the sidelines.
Snow Australia, the sport’s governing body here in Australia, has the responsibility to ensure their members are insured when participating in FIS races and has a group policy for athletes who are on contract. They also provide links to other insurance policies on their website.
“I am not a contracted athlete and so not eligible for insurance through Snow Australia but I looked at the listed insurers and, a week before my departure, started going through them one-by-one but came up short every time,” said Michael.
He then reached out to fellow snow sports athletes for recommendations, as well as Paralympics Australia and even Thredbo Race Club. Armed with a number of leads, he left the country and the task to his wife and manager, Penni.
“Penni has followed up every lead, spoken to so many people in the industry and gone down many paths with no result. They either don’t offer ski racing cover, don’t insure older athletes or won’t insure me because of all my health ‘conditions’.
“Without insurance, I simply cannot race. I get that the sport is high risk but I have only ever had one accident in over 30 years and that was when I was skiing recreationally. I don’t know why being a three-time cancer survivor is considered a risk. I mean, I had the treatment and now I’m cancer free. I feel great and I’m ready to go,” said a frstrated Michael.
If he is selected in the Australian team for the Paralympic Games (an announcement is expected sometime in February), insurance will be covered by Paralympics Australia’s group policy. But he can’t qualify if he can’t race, and he can’t race if he has no insurance.
“I know people will come at me for not looking into the insurance earlier but it wouldn’t have made any difference: I still wouldn’t be able to race. Armed with a bunch of insurance leads from fellow skiers, Snow Australia and others, I thought we would find a solution,” said Milton.
This could be the end for Michael Milton’s campaign to, once again, race at the Paralympic Games. He has already qualified for giant slalom and is confident he would be able to qualify in at least one other event, if not all four.
“It’s so frustrating to come this far, battle to overcome cancer and surgery, come back from a broken leg earlier this year and be in the best shape I have been in for years only to fall at an administrative hurdle. I just never imagined insurance would be the thing that stopped me.”