Targets reached in PyeongChang, now for Beijing 2022

Four medals won and a top 15 position on the overall medal tally means the Australian Paralympic Winter Team reached its targets in PyeongChang.

The haul was double Sochi (two) from four years ago and Torino in 2006 (two), and one more than Vancouver (three) in 2010. In fact, Australia’s tally of four is the highest number of medals won since Salt Lake City in 2002 (seven).

The Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) was aiming for between two and four medals and a top-15 position from its 12 athletes and three sighted guides in South Korea.

Australia finished with one gold and three bronze from Para-alpine skier Melissa Perrine and Para-snowboarder Simon Patmore to wedge itself into 15th place in the tally, behind Norway (14th) and above Finland (16th).

WATCH the PyeongChang wrap, with one gold, three bronze and a top 15 finish, plus the achievements of each athlete on our team, PyeongChang was nothing short of extraordinary.

Dual Paralympic bronze medallist Perrine named as Closing Ceremony flag bearer

The longer road to Paralympic glory for Mittagong’s Melissa Perrine convinced 2018 Australian Team Chef de Mission Nick Dean that she was the ideal choice to carry the fag at tonight’s Closing Ceremony at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium.

With two athletes winning two medals each in South Korea – Perrine’s two bronze in Para-alpine skiing and Simon Patmore’s gold and bronze in Para-snowboard – it made the decision a tough one.

Patmore enjoyed the better results and also made his Paralympic Winter Games debut in PyeongChang. Perrine was at her third Paralympic Games after two, at times, heart-breaking campaigns in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.

“Mel’s a campaigner and as I said right at the outset, I’m happy for medals of any colour,” Dean said.

“Simi (Patmore) was fantastic. Mel’s is more of a saga, more of a story – three Games, 10 years of hard training,” he said.

Perrine just outside the medals on the final day in PyeongChang

The PyeongChang 2018 Para-alpine skiing program came to an end today, with Australia's Melissa Perrine finishing agonisingly close to a third Paralympic medal after placing fourth in the women's vision impaired Slalom today.

She was second fastest down the hill in 58.33 seconds on the second run - just 0.77 seconds behind eventual gold medallist Menna Fitzpatrick (Great Britain) - but could not make up the time lost in her first run, when she drifted more than three seconds from gold.

"It was a pretty dismal first run. Sorry you guys had to look at that," Perrine said.

"I didn’t ski well in the first run. Second run was a little bit better. I obviously would have liked to do better today. I just didn't go out and perform the way I'm capable of.

"We had to take a step back and reassess (between runs) and just know that it was 'make it or break it' for the second one. I had to go out there and put something special there down and I was able to claw some time back, but not enough."