[Archive 2012-12-11] Wikinews interviews Australian Paralympic skiers Jessica Gallagher and Eric Bickerton

Historical archive — originally published 2012-12-11. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Sunday, Wikinews sat down with Australian blind Paralympic skier Jessica Gallagher and her guide Eric Bickerton who are participating in a national team training camp in Vail, Colorado.

((Wikinews)) This is Jessica Gallagher. She's competing at the IPC NorAm cup this coming week.

Jessica Gallagher: We're in training. I've got a race at Winner Park, but we aren't racing at Copper.

((WN)) So. Your guide is Eric Bickerton, and he did win a medal in women's downhill blind skiing.

Jessica Gallagher: No, he loves telling people that he was the first Australian female Paralympic woman to win a medal. One of the ironies.

((WN)) The IPC's website doesn't list guides on their medal things. Are they doing that because they don't want — you realise this is not all about you per se — Is it because they are trying to keep off the able bodied people to make the Paralympics seem more pure for people with disabilities?

Jessica Gallagher: Look, I don't know but I completely disagree if they don't have the guides up there. Because it's pretty plain and simple: I wouldn't be skiing if it wasn't with him. Being legally blind you do have limitations and that's just reality. We're certainly able to overcome most of them. And when it comes to skiing on a mountain the reason I'm able to overcome having 8 per cent vision is that I have a guide. So I think it's pretty poor if they don't have the information up there because he does as much work as I do. He's an athlete as much as I am. If he crashes we're both out. He's drug tested. He's as important as I am on a race course. So I would strongly hope that they would put it up there. Here's Eric!

((WN)) We've been having a great debate about whether or not you've won a medal in women's blind downhill skiing.

((WN)) I found a picture of you on the ABC web site. Both of you were there, holding your medals up. The IPC's web site doesn't credit you.

((WN)) One of the things that was mentioned earlier, most delightful about you guys is you were racing and "we were halfway down the course and we lost communication!" How does a blind skier deal with...

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Text adapted from Wikinews interviews Australian Paralympic skiers Jessica Gallagher and Eric Bickerton by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.