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Skier, cyclist, adventurer, world and Australian record holder,
Paralympian, Olympian....
Michael Milton is one of Australia's best-known athletes. His
four-gold-medal haul at the 2002 Winter
Paralympic Games endeared him to a sport-loving nation and earned him the
title of Laureus World Sportsperson of the
Year with a Disability.
In April 2003 Michael tried something new: speed skiing, the drag racing of alpine sport. On the steepest slope in the world he clocked over 193km/hr, smashing a 16-year-old world record and becoming the fastest skier with a disability.
Every year after that he bettered his own world record until, in April 2006, he clocked a staggering 213.65km/hr to also become the fastest Australian skier ever. Click here to see a list of Michael's record speeds.
A month earlier at the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in (his fifth Paralympic Games) Michael's ski racing career came to an end. Under a new, tougher classification system, he won a silver medal in the Downhill, achieving his goal to "...win a medal, any colour." His ski racing medal count stands at eleven Paralympic medals (six gold) and eleven World Championships medals (six gold).
Milton is now pursuing a new sport: cycling. After six months of intense training, he not only won a gold medal in the 3000m Pursuit at the Australian Track Cycling Championships in February 2007 but also broke the Australian record.
His dream to make the Australian team and compete at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games were sidelined when he was diagnosed with Oesophagael Cancer in July 2007. He has since made an amazing comeback from this serious illness, recording times at the 2008 Australian Track Cycling Championships comparable to his results in the same events 12 months ago.
On June 6 Cycling Australia included Michael on a list of athletes nominated for places on the Paralympic Cycling team. The final decision rests with the Australian Paralympic Committee who will announce the final team on Friday 27 June.
Michael John Milton
Born: 21 March 1973, Canberra
Lives: Canberra, Australia
Family status: Married to Penni, one daughter Matilda with second child due in November 2008