Friends in high places

Aussie buddies find the right balance on Yanqing's slopes

Patrick Jensen is one of the few vision-impaired athletes whose sighted guide is of the opposite sex, and the Australian is glad to have his strong-minded buddy, Amelia Hodgson, leading the way for his Paralympic bid.

"Amelia is not easy to scare away. She gives as good as she gets," Jensen joked before adding in earnest: "We get along like close friends on and off the snow, I think it makes a huge difference to how we ski together－the trust level that we've built up as good friends.

"We've done three years together now and I guess Amelia is enjoying it as much as I am."

Hodgson concurs that their personalities are a good fit on the slopes.

"It's about how your relationship is mostly. It doesn't matter about the gender and it's just about how you ski and how you get on," she said, before adding with a laugh: "When we're on skis, I'm bossy."

The 26-year-old Jensen, a former drummer in a rock band, is competing at his second Winter Paralympics.

He took part in the slalom and giant slalom events at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, but decided to challenge himself with high-speed events－the super-G and downhill－in Beijing.

"The speed has been so much fun, and I've had an absolute ball over the last three days. I haven't had that much fun on skis in years. I'm stuck with my results, and I had fun doing it," Jensen said.

"There's been a lot of scary moments this season and I feel like we've finally just let it run here."

He finished sixth in Sunday's men's vision-impaired super-G event and eighth in Saturday's men's downhill at the National Alpine Skiing Centre.

Even though there were no medals for Jensen over the weekend, he was thrilled with his performances on the slopes of Yanqing.

"I was blown away by the result yesterday. I think it was as good as what we possibly could have done," he said on Sunday. "I feel that today we gave it our best shot and skied our best. We're not quite as close as yesterday, but I'm still pretty damn happy with how everything's gone."

Hodgson is also thoroughly enjoying her experience in Beijing.

"It's insane!" she enthused. "I'm so happy to be here and it's also so fun to ski with Patrick.

"I get to experience this massive event and skiing with your friend is amazing."