Cameron Rahles-Rahbula


Cameron Rahles-Rahbula is a former Paralympic alpine skier from Australia. He won two bronze medals at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver. He represented Australia in four Paralympics, stating with the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City and the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino. He did not compete in any events at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi due to knee and ankle injuries suffered during the warm up for the downhill event of the Games but carried the Australian flag in the Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony. He also won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2004 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Wildschönau, Austria, and a gold and a bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships in Jeongseon, Korea. He retired after the Sochi Games.

Personal

Cameron Rahles-Rahbula was born in Camperdown, Victoria, on 9 July 1983. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer at the age of 12 and after unsuccessful chemotherapy had his left leg amputated above the knee at the age of 14. He attended a weekend ski camp at Mount Buller organised by Challenge, a children's cancer support network two weeks after his amputation. Within three days, he was able to ski by himself and this was the start of his Paralympic skiing career.
Rahles-Rahbula attended Geelong Grammar School. He went to Timbertop, for a year, where intense physical training — running, hiking and other outdoor programs — are required. At university, he studied physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne and currently works as a physiotherapist.
He married Emily Jansen on 4 December 2010. Jansen had become Australia's first female Paralympic skier when she competed at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino. They have two sons named Archie and Finn.

Career

Rahles-Rahbula's first major success was 2nd place in the giant slalom at the 2001 National Championships at Mount Hotham. He competed at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City in four LW2 men's events – downhill, slalom, giant slalom and super-G. At the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino, he competed in four standing events, coming 14th in the slalom and did not finish in the downhill, giant slalom and super-G.
At the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, Rahles-Rahbula won bronze medals in the Men's slalom standing event and the Men's super combined standing event. He finished 4th in the downhill, 6th in the giant slalom and 5th in the super-G. He was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
At the 2004 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Wildschönau, Austria, Rahles-Rahbula won two gold medals in the Super-G and Downhill and silver medal in the Slalom. At the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships at High Resort 1 in Jeongseon County, Korea, he won a gold medal in the Men's Slalom Standing and a bronze medal in the Men's Giant Slalom Standing. He competed in three events at the 2011 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Sestriere, Italy, but did not win any medals.
The IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Thredbo, New South Wales in September 2013 was intended to be his last competition due to the desire to spend more time with his family. At this event, he won a gold medal in the slalom and silver in giant slalom. In December 2013, he announced that he would aim to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. His return to competitive skiing with the support of his wife Emily was subject to his training program allowing for more family time.
On 4 March 2014, he was named as the Australian flag bearer at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Opening Ceremony. Less than a day after being named as flag bearer, he suffered a knee fracture and ankle injury in a training accident and was not able to compete in any of his events. He played an important role in supporting the Australian Team during the Games, and announced that he was retiring.

Recognition