A couple of years ago he started to compete and, last week, the 19-year-old Southland skier not only won double gold at the Special Olympics National Winter Games at Wanaka’s Cardrona Alpine Resort but was also crowned the fastest athlete in the competition.
Senior stepped on to the podium to collect gold medals in both the slalom and giant slalom — recording a time of 1min 9.21sec across two runs.
While this was not his first double gold in competitions, he said it was great to bring the recognition home.
"I’m quite known for bombing it down at full speed on some — unless it’s too much traffic [in the ski fields].
"I have won double gold before in the regionals, but it is awesome and I feel good to achieve this."
Along with Senior, two other Southland skiers also showed immense talent in the competition.
Grant McKenzie won gold in the Intermediate division 6 slalom, a day after he won silver in the giant slalom.
Snowboarder Aaron Wild was another Southlander among the medals, claiming bronze in snowboard cross and narrowly missing out on a second medal in the giant slalom a day earlier.
The Special Olympics National Winter Games are the four-yearly pinnacle event for athletes with an intellectual disability competing in skiing and snowboarding events, and this year was the ninth edition.
The athletes would now be training to classify for the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy.
