Adam Hall of Team New Zealand pictured competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. Photo / Getty Images
To compete at one Winter Paralympic Winter Games is a lifetime achievement, but for New Zealand Para alpine skier Adam Hall, the chance to compete at a sixth Games completes a full-circle moment.
Hall will line up in Milano Cortina in the men’s giant slalom standing and men’s slalom standing, where he will look to add to his five career medals (two gold and three bronze) and further cement his legacy as a Winter Paralympian great.
The 38-year-old, born with spina bifida, is the first New Zealand Para athlete to compete at six Paralympic Winter Games, putting him alongside Graham Condon (Para athletics and Para swimming) and Michael Johnson (Shooting Para sport), who have competed at six Summer Paralympics.
But the occasion is made more special, as Hall’s first Paralympic Winter Games took place three hours west on the mountains in Sestriere near Turin.
If you’d told teenage Hall at his debut Games that he’d still be competing to the highest level today, he wouldn’t have believed you, but now he can’t imagine a life that doesn’t involve the snow.
“It is incredible to be able to, in time, look back over such a long career and to still be here 22 years into World Cup season and still be competing for podiums,” Hall told the Herald. “It’s pretty remarkable and full circle, starting in Italy in 2006 and we’re back here 20 years later.
“When I first started out 20 years ago, I never would have thought that I would still be here or perhaps my body would still be able to cope with the training and [it] seems to have played a really positive impact and had a good influence just on my wellbeing and on my health and on my fitness.
“I couldn’t imagine what my body would be like if I hadn’t gone down this road of competition and competing for our country and all the training and everything else that comes with it.”
Hall’s crowning moments have come in the slalom standing, where he won gold in Vancouver in 2010 and again in PyeongChang in 2018. He also claimed bronze in the super combined standing in South Korea, before adding two further bronze medals in Beijing 2022 – one in the super combined standing and another in the slalom standing
Overall Hall is pleased with his form heading into the Paralympic Winter Games, which have included several World Cup podiums in events in Germany, and Switzerland.
He said the reality of competing at another Winter Paralympics probably won’t hit until he’s among the other competitors.
“Maybe it’s different once you’re there and once you’re in the environment, to have a bit of a pinch-me moment, but I think also when you look at the perspective and how you go about these things, it’s understanding that it’s just another competition,” Hall said.
“We have a lot of support around us, and with all the monitoring that goes on these days, it’s all about making sure we’re in the right place at the right time and doing the right things when we need to.
“We want to head in as fresh as possible so it’s about getting that balance right and putting ourselves in a good spot as we head into the village and build momentum for the Games.”
Hall has been named the designated flag-bearer for the opening ceremony at Arena di Verona, although New Zealand, like many other teams, won’t have a presence there due to the distance from Cortina and the proximity of the opening ceremony to competition days. New Zealand will feature virtually.
Regardless, Hall says to be named is a huge honour.
“Leading the team out for the opening and the kick-off for the Games and an opportunity to represent not just our team but for our team to represent our country, our communities, the people and everybody that has backed us and that are behind us and that have supported in our journeys that lead us to where we are today,” he said.
Hall is part of a two-man team alongside Corey Peters, who was competing in his fourth Paralympic Games.
Hall said it is always nice getting to compete alongside a good friend.
“We’re like brothers,” he said. “We spend a lot more time probably together than we do with our families.
“We’re all always striving for that same thing and so that’s to be able to just show up to another race and put our best performance down and hopefully on the day, if we can do that, then the rewards will come.”
The Paralympic Winter Games run from March 6-15.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.