Cameron Rahles-Rahbula

Cameron Rahles-Rahbula (born 9 July 1983) is a former Paralympic alpine skier from Australia. He won two bronze medals at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver. He represented Australia in four Paralympics, stating with the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City and the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino. He did not compete in any events at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi due to knee and ankle injuries suffered during the warm up for the downhill event of the Games but carried the Australian flag (albeit on crutches) in the Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony. He also won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2004 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Wildschönau, Austria, and a gold and a bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships in Jeongseon, Korea. He retired after the Sochi Games.

Cameron Rahles-Rahbula

Cameron Rahles- Rahbula April 2013
Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Born	9 July 1983 Camperdown, Victoria
Sport
Sport	Para-alpine skiing
Disability class	LW2
Event(s)	Downhill Super-G Giant Slalom Slalom Super Combined
Medal record Men's alpine skiing Winter Paralympic Games 2010 Vancouver Men's Slalom standing 2010 Vancouver Men's Super Combined standing IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships 2004 Wildschönau, Austria Men's Super G LW2 2004 Wildschönau, Austria Men's Downhill LW2 2004 Wildschönau, Austria Men's Slalom LW2 2009 Jeongseon, Korea Men's Slalom Standing 2009 Jeongseon , Korea Men's Giant Slalom Standing New Zealand Winter Games 2011 Queenstown Giant Slalom Standing 2011 Queenstown Super G Standing 2011 Queenstown Slalom Standing

Personal

Cameron Rahles-Rahbula was born in Camperdown, Victoria, on 9 July 1983.[1] He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer at the age of 12 and after unsuccessful chemotherapy had his left leg amputated above the knee at the age of 14.[2] He attended a weekend ski camp at Mount Buller organised by Challenge, a children's cancer support network two weeks after his amputation. Within three days, he was able to ski by himself and this was the start of his Paralympic skiing career.[1]

Rahles-Rahbula attended Geelong Grammar School. He went to Timbertop, for a year, where intense physical training — running, hiking and other outdoor programs — are required.[2] At university, he studied physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne and currently works as a physiotherapist.[1]

He married Emily Jansen on 4 December 2010.[3] Jansen had become Australia's first female Paralympic skier when she competed at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino.[4] They have two sons named Archie and Finn.[5]

Career

Cameron Rahles Rahbula competing in the Super G during the second day of the 2012 IPC Nor Am Cup at Copper Mountain

Rahles-Rahbula's first major success was 2nd place in the giant slalom at the 2001 National Championships at Mount Hotham. He competed at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City in four LW2 men's events – downhill (9th), slalom (17th), giant slalom (did not finish) and super-G (did not finish). At the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino, he competed in four standing events, coming 14th in the slalom and did not finish in the downhill, giant slalom and super-G.[6][7]

At the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, Rahles-Rahbula won bronze medals in the Men's slalom standing event and the Men's super combined standing event. He finished 4th in the downhill, 6th in the giant slalom and 5th in the super-G.[6] He was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony at the 2010 Vancouver Games.[8]

At the 2004 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Wildschönau, Austria, Rahles-Rahbula won two gold medals in the Super-G and Downhill and silver medal in the Slalom.[9] At the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships at High Resort 1 in Jeongseon County, Korea, he won a gold medal in the Men's Slalom Standing and a bronze medal in the Men's Giant Slalom Standing.[9] He competed in three events at the 2011 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Sestriere, Italy, but did not win any medals.[9]

The IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Thredbo, New South Wales in September 2013 was intended to be his last competition due to the desire to spend more time with his family. At this event, he won a gold medal in the slalom and silver in giant slalom.[10] In December 2013, he announced that he would aim to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi.[10] His return to competitive skiing with the support of his wife Emily was subject to his training program allowing for more family time.[10]

On 4 March 2014, he was named as the Australian flag bearer at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Opening Ceremony.[8] Less than a day after being named as flag bearer, he suffered a knee fracture and ankle injury in a training accident and was not able to compete in any of his events.[11][12] He played an important role in supporting the Australian Team during the Games, and announced that he was retiring.[13]

Recognition

• 2004 – Young Victorian of the Year for his work with young skiers with a disability.[1]
• 2004 – University of Melbourne Sports Athlete of the Year[1]
• 2004/2005 – Local Citizen of the Year by Corangamite Shire Council in Victoria[1]
• 2010 – Australian Paralympian of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year[14]
• 2010 – Australian Flag Bearer for Closing Ceremony at 2010 Winter Paralympics[8]
• 2014 – Australian Flag Bearer for Opening Ceremony at 2014 Winter Paralympics[8]

References

1. Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games Media Guide (PDF). Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2006. p. 22.
2. "Can't stop a good sport". The Age. 26 January 2004.
3. "From the Curator". Light Blue. Geelong Grammar School: 39. April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
4. McDonald, Margie (6 March 2014). "Retiring skier lured by the flag". The Australian. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
5. "Cameron Rahles-Rahbula". International Paralympic Committee Alpine Skiing Athlete Profiles. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
6. "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
7. "Athlete Profile – Cameron Rahles-Rahbula". Australian Paralympic Committee Website. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
8. Paxinos, Stathi (5 March 2014). "Cameron Rahles-Rahbula named Australian Paralympic flagbearer". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
9. "World Championship Results". IPC Alpine Skiing Website. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
10. "Athlete Profile – Cameron Rahles-Rahbula". Australian Paralympic Committee Website. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
11. Paxinos, Stathi (6 March 2014). "Cameron Rahles-Rahbula will remain Australian flagbearer despite injury at Sochi Paralympics". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
12. Cameron Rahles-Rahbula out of the Paralympics
13. Paxinos, Stathi (15 March 2014). "Future Winter Paralympics must be fair for all skiers, says Cameron Rahles-Rahbula". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
14. "Paralympian of the Year Awards". Australian Paralympic Committee Website. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.

External

• Cameron Rahles-Rahbula at the Australian Paralympic Committee
• Cameron Rahles-Rahbula at the International Paralympic Committee (also here)