Joany Badenhorst and Mitch Gourley named captains of the Australian team for Winter Paralympics

AFTER a horror crash in Sochi Joany Badenhorst wondered if her dream of competing in a Winter Paralympics was over before it began.

Australian Paralympians Joany Badenhorst Mitchell Gourley named captains of the Australian Winter Paralympic team.

AFTER a horror crash in Sochi Joany Badenhorst wondered if her dream of competing in a Winter Paralympics was over before it began.

Instead, the 24-year-old snowboarder will lead Australia’s charge at South Korea’s PyeongChang Games next March after being named co-captain along with veteran alpine skier Mitch Gourley.

Badenhorst, who lost her lower leg in a farming accident in 2005, was warming up for competition at the 2014 Games in Russia when she hit a corner and crashed, breaking her patella, dislocating her knee and collapsing her hip.

Mitchell Gourley and Joany Badenhorst at today’s announcement.

She said she didn’t know whether she’d be able to come back mentally as well as physically, with the severity of the injury meaning she had to learn how to walk again as well as change her entire snowboard style.

“I was incredibly disappointed and I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to come back from that,” Badenhorst said.

“You have four years when you give up your entire life and one day to shine and I didn’t get that but I realised my Paralympic dream isn’t over — it might not be Sochi but it’s Korea.” Badenhorst, who grew up in South Africa but lives in Griffith in country NSW, said she hoped her experience would make her a better captain.

Joany Badenhorst’s Sochi experience turned into a nightmare.

She will start favourite to claim Australia’s first snowboard medal, competing in the banked slalom and also the boarder cross, having won the 2016/17 International Paralympic World Cup Crystal Globe in that event.

“I really did have highs and lows in Sochi and it’s shaped the way that I’m going into Korea and I’m hoping that experience can help the new guys who are doing this for the first time because it is quite a confronting experience,” she said.

Mitchell Gourley in action earlier this year in Italy.

“Hopefully both Mitch and I can lighten that a little bit and take away the stresses and make sure they have a great time.”

Victorian Gourley, 26, will be competing in his third Paralympics, with the Australian team expected to comprise 11 athletes plus two guides.

Originally published as Joany Badenhorst and Mitch Gourley named captains of the Australian team for Winter Paralympics