Michael Milton has found a last-minute left-field solution that will allow him to race in Europe and resume his campaign to gain selection in the Australian team to compete at the 2026 Paralympic Games.
Aiming for his seventh Paralympic Games but, incredibly, sidelined in Austria and unable to race after a fruitless search for ski racing insurance, Michael had already missed his first race of the season. But he had one last desperate idea.
“Want to give Rupert a call? Just in case we’ve missed something. It’s worth a shot,” texted Michael to his wife Penni, back at home in Australia. She’d spent weeks trying to secure ski racing insurance so he could compete in Europe.
That one phone call changed everything. Michael’s old friend, Rupert Winkler, an Austrian heavily involved in masters racing, had the answer. He immediately directed Penni to the German Ski Federation’s website and talked her through the process to sign Michael up as a member. That membership included insurance.
“He was just so matter-of-fact, like it was the simplest thing in the world. Within minutes Michael was a member. It cost €59 and meant he could race the following day!” explained Penni. “After three weeks of dead-ends and Michael missing his first race, I just sat down and cried.”
Michael was elated, after thinking his season was over before it started and having invested a lot of time, energy and money in his comeback to Paralympic competition.
“In the end I missed one GS race when I genuinely thought I would be heading home within days,” said a relieved Michael.
So, Michael is now a proud card-carrying member of the German Ski Federation. Quite bizarre really for so many reasons!
For the moment, Michael is just happy to switch from spectating to racing and will ski Slalom tomorrow. It is his only chance to qualify in that discipline which would also mean he is able to race at World Cup races in December.