Paralympic cyclist Jess Gallagher aiming to become first Australian athlete to win medals at winter and summer Games

JESS Gallagher is aiming to create history as the first Australian athlete – Olympian or Paralympian – to win medals at both the winter and summer Games.

Blind cyclist Jess Gallagher is aiming to become the first Australian athlete to win medals at both the winter and summer Games.

TWO years ago Jess Gallagher was skiing to her second bronze at the winter Paralympics.

On Friday night, she is aiming to create history as the first Australian athlete – Olympian or Paralympian – to win medals at both the winter and summer Games.

The legally blind Victorian will contest the women’s kilometre time-trial final in tandem with sighted pilot Maddie Janssen from 11pm (EST).

The duo paired for gold in the match sprint at this year’s track world championships, and Gallagher said there was no reason they couldn’t hit the same standard when the second day of competition starts on Friday night.

“We’re the newest female tandem on the circuit, but we won a world title this year in the match sprint, so we have the power,” Gallagher said.

Blind cyclist Jess Gallagher (right) with her pilot Maddie Janssen.

“We finished third in the time trial which is the event here (at the Paralympics). In that five months since worlds we’ve progressed significantly.

“So we have pretty high expectations for ourselves. We certainly would like to be on the podium – and hopefully that top spot.”

It has been a rapid rise in cycling for Gallagher, who had never ridden a tandem bike until less than two years ago.

She first represented Australia at a Paralympics in alpine skiing at the 2010 winter Games, where she won bronze in the slalom and finished seventh in the giant slalom.

Then, in 2012, she qualified for the summer Paralympic Games in London, finishing fifth in long jump and sixth in javelin.

But the joy of a giant slalom bronze at the 2014 Sochi winter Games was quickly followed by the disappointment of her visually-impaired class being axed from the Rio schedule.

Jess Gallagher at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver.

“My long term goal is to medal in a summer and winter Paralympics – there’s no Australian Olympian or Paralympian who has achieved that,” the 30-year-old said.

“So when long jump was dropped I had to look elsewhere for a new sport. Around the same time the head cycling coach of the VIS, Glenn Doney, saw me lifting some weights in the gym and asked if I’d like to come out to the track and have a go.”

Gallagher said while the crossover of skills between skiing and cycling was minimal, the velodrome was clearly safer than the slopes.

“Skiing is definitely scarier,” she said.

“On a tandem bicycle on the track I have a pilot who gets to see everything and steers the bike and it’s a very stable environment. On a mountain, I’m skiing down at 100kmh with a guide, not protected, trusting I’m getting the right information through the headsets.

“They’re both crazy – but track cycling is a little less.”

Originally published as Paralympic cyclist Jess Gallagher aiming to become first Australian athlete to win medals at winter and summer Games