Australian alpine skier Melissa Perrine has picked up her first IPC World Cup gold medal just two months out from the Winter Paralympics.
The 25-year-old won the downhill race for the vision impaired at the meet in Canada at the weekend, beating two of her better-ranked rivals from Great Britain and the USA.
The victory means Perrine has now qualified for all five alpine skiing events at the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games, which begin on March 7.
Perrine has been skiing with the Australian squad since 2009 with sighted guide Andrew Bor and made her Paralympic debut in Vancouver in 2010, where she finished fifth in the downhill.
She has since collected three bronze medals in the discipline and slalom.
And Australia's winter head coach Steve Graham reckons she has plenty more in reserve.
"This result goes well for Mel's goal for this season to be the best female vision impaired skier across all disciplines," he said.
The news was not so good for Australia's most successful athlete in the 2012-2013 World Cup season, Mitchell Gourley, and Toby Kane, who both missed out on medal placings in their downhill speed races.
The Australian Paralympic winter squad will next compete at the IPC World Cup event at America's Copper Mountain from Friday.
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