Matthew Stockford

Medal record
Competitor for  Great Britain
Paralympic Alpine skiing
Winter Paralympic Games
Bronze	1992 Albertville/Tignes	Downhill LW10
Bronze	1992 Albertville/Tignes	Giant slalom LW10
Bronze	1992 Albertville/Tignes	Super-G LW10
Bronze	1994 Lillehammer	Super-G LWX

Matthew Stockford is a British former Paralympic skier who won medals at the 1992 Winter Paralympics and 1994 Winter Paralympics.^[1] Stockford broke his back in a skiing accident in 1985. He competed using a monoski - a specially fitted chair over a single ski that includes seat belts and other strapping, as well as a suspension device to minimize wear and tear on the skier's body.^[2]

Skiing career

In his first competitive event after his accident, The 1990 World Disabled Ski Championships, Stockford won a gold medal in the downhill and bronze in the slalom.^[2]

Paralympics

Stockford first competed at the Winter Paralympics during the 1992 Games held in Tignes and Albertville, France. He took part in four alpine skiing events, downhill, giant slalom, super-G and slalom, in the LW10 classification for athletes who race sitting down.^[3][4] He won three bronze medals in the downhill, super-G and giant slalom events.^[1][5] After Stockford won the bronze in downhill, the British delegation filed a protest claiming that the two American skiers ahead of him should not have been in the LW10 category.^[6] The medical committee rejected the protest on the grounds that all classifications had been determined at the start of the competition. In the slalom Stockford finished fourth, missing out on a medal by one position and 10.65 seconds.^[7]

At the 1994 Winter Paralympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Stockford again competed in downhill, giant slalom, super-G and slalom events in a classification now renamed as LWX. He failed to finish in the downhill slalom or giant slalom but picked up his fourth Paralympic bronze medal in the super-G.^[3] Since this bronze, and the four others won by British athletes in Lillehammer, Britain has failed to win any Paralympic alpine skiing medals.^[8]

Stockford now runs a successful property business in London. In 2006 Stockford became the manager of British Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott after meeting her sister-in-law's father at a party. He helped Alcott set up a team of support staff and raise funding from private sources with the aim of winning a medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[9][10]

See also

• Great Britain at the 1992 Winter Paralympics
• Great Britain at the 1994 Winter Paralympics
• Alpine skiing at the 1992 Winter Paralympics
• Alpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Paralympics

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Brief History". British Disabled Ski Team. http://www.disabilitysnowsport.org.uk/uploads/fck/file/The%20British%20Disabled%20Ski%20Team%20Media%20Pack.pdf. Retrieved 20 April 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Abood, Thomas (22 September 1990). "Winter park - Jackson Village ... the two world championships ... Alpine and Nordic skiing". Palaestra 6 (5): 34–37. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=9324490. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Matthew Stockford's profile on paralympic.org
4. ^ "Sport Profiles, Alpine Skiing". Australian Paralympic Committee. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090912232837/http://www.paralympic.org.au/Sport/SportProfiles/Alpine%20Skiing.aspx. Retrieved 12 April 2011. 
5. ^ Ramsay, Alix (4 April 1992). "Champion tries a secret weapon". The Times. Sport section. 
6. ^ Ramsay, Alix (30 March 1992). "Ski team protests". The Times. Sport section. 
7. ^ "Results Tignes-Albertville 1992 Paralympic Winter Games Alpine Skiing Men's Slalom LW10". Official Website of the Paralympic Movement. http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/results.html?eclass=LW10&sport=alpine&competition=1992PWG&gender=m&discipline=&event=Slalom. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 
8. ^ "Kelly Gallagher claims fourth at Winter Paralympics". BBC Sport. 19 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/8571548.stm. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 
9. ^ "Team Chemmy: Bankrolling Alcott's blonde ambition". The Independent. 1 November 2007. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/team-chemmy-bankrolling-alcotts-blonde-ambition-398420.html. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 
10. ^ "Chemmy Alcott: Beauty and the piste". The Express. 24 January 2010. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/153774/Chemmy-Alcott-Beauty-and-the-piste. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 

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