Simon Patmore has urged his fellow Paralympians not to limit themselves to one sport after becoming the second Australian to win medals at both a summer and winter Games.
Patmore added a gold medal in snowboard cross in PyeongChang on Monday to the bronze he won in the 200m T46 sprint at the London 2012 Paralympics.
The 30-year-old has followed in the footsteps of Jess Gallagher, who claimed bronze medals in alpine skiing from Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 and in cycling in Rio 2016.
Patmore became the 30th Australian Paralympian to win medals in two or more sports and the sixth to compete at both a summer and winter Games.
“I don’t think you should stay in one sport whatsoever, not with this amount of opportunity that you have,” Patmore told AAP.
“I think any athlete should give any sport a go. Find out which one’s the best for you.
“If you can keep pushing yourself to change sports or just go as far as you can with your sport, you’re going to inspire others.
“I had the guts to go out and do it, have a go and this is the reward I get for it.”
Patmore – who has Erb’s palsy which affects muscle strength and movement – believes his experience on the athletics world stage gave him an edge despite being in his Winter Games debut.
“No one else has had that experience,” he said.
“I know what it’s like. I know how people crack under pressure or they do ridiculous stuff.
“I blocked all that out back then and I’ve watched these guys over three and a half years so I know what they’re going to do on the day.
“When they play stupid little games, I blocked it out and did my own thing.”
Patmore has attributed Paralympians’ ability to switch sports to their “mental game”, having taken up snowboarding without any experience.
“I think we’re very strong-minded people and I think we can push past people’s expectations,” he said.
“I started in 2014 and Lu (coach Lukas Prem) started the snowboard program that year and he asked me straight up ‘have you snowboarded before?’
“I lied to him. I said yeah. But nah.
“I knew straight away I couldn’t hold an edge. I was falling over at Front Valley of Perisher.”
