A day after being disqualified for wearing a visor, Australian skier Melissa Perrine crashes in slalom

MELISSA Perrine remains proud of her performances in Sochi this week despite her nightmare Paralympic Games continuing with a crash.

MELISSA Perrine remains proud of her performances in Sochi this week despite her nightmare Paralympic Games continuing with a crash just 10m into her slalom run on Wednesday.

A day after she was disqualified from a silver-medal winning position in the super combined for wearing an illegal visor on her helmet, the visually impaired skier fell at the top of the Rosa Khutor mountain which put an end to her day.

"I hit a couple of bumps, my ski got caught and I went over the front, it happens, it's slalom," Perrine said.

It was yet another blow for Perrine who missed the medals in the downhill and super-G before her disqualification for illegal equipment on Tuesday forced Australian Paralympic chiefs to stress they had not deliberately cheated the rules.

Perrine and her guide Andy Bor described their decision to use a visor to shield Perrine's eyes from bright lights and rain without checking the rule book as "a stupid mistake", and Perrine said anyone who thought she would intentionally flout the rules was wrong.

"Then I think they're not looking at this in the light that it truly is, it wasn't a malicious intent at all, it was a mistake, a completely innocent mistake, an oversight and that was it," the skier from the NSW Southern Highlands said.

"We've paid the price for that and I think I and everyone on the team just wants to move on.

"I was really, really disappointed.

"A mistake was made, it was yesterday and there's nothing I can do about it now. There's nothing I can do to change it so I'm trying to keep focused.

"It's a tough one but it is what it is."

Despite being considered a strong medal chance in at least two of her five events, Perrine now has just the giant slalom left on Sunday to salvage a result.

But the 25-year-old two-time Winter Paralympian said she could still be pleased with her performances.

"In terms of results, not great. But in terms of how I am skiing, I am happy with what I'm doing out there," she said.

"I'm not skiing poorly, I'm skiing well, my times are good and I'm right in there.

"It's just a few mistakes have cost me dearly.

"In Vancouver I wasn't proud of my skiing performance. Here I am proud of what I've done on the snow.

"So I think I've achieved what I wanted to coming into these Games.

"I always said that I didn't care whether I came first or sixth and that still doesn't bother me.

"A result would be great, I'm not going to lie, it would be awesome to have a Paralympic medal, but it doesn't matter in the end as long as I know I'm skiing well out there then that's important to me.'

She is adamant the setbacks in Sochi will not impact her love for the sport.

"Definitely not, I love this sport so much," Perrine said.

"I love racing, I love skiing, I love the mountain lifestyle.

"I'm going to be around for a while to come yet."

Bor said he was also disappointed at failing to check the equipment rules before the Games but echoed Perrine's comments about her efforts.

"Yeah, disappointed but like Mel is saying, she's skiing well.

"A couple of things have gone against her (but) I'm really happy with the way she's skiing and the way she's conducted herself, she's doing an awesome job."