Comeback for the ages: Aussie skiing icon Michael Milton shoots for Paralympics 20 years after retirement
Michael Milton is on the path to record a comeback for the ages.
The 52-year-old hasn't been to a Paralympic Games since 2006, but nothing is stopping him from making a 20-year return and joining the roster headed to Milan-Cortina.
For him, everything comes in "steps", even his record-breaking attempt in 2006 that awarded Milton the title of 'fastest skier in Australia'.
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"I mean, it's something you do in steps," he told Wide World of Sports.
Michael Milton of Australia celebrates winning silver at the 2006 Turin Winter Paralympic Games. Getty
"How I actually found out about [the world record for an athlete with a disability] was in a bookshop in Breckenridge, Colorado in 1991 on a snowy day when I wasn't skiing.
"I walked into a shop, saw the Guinness Book of Records, flicked towards the skiing pages, said 'Oh look, this is world speed record for an athlete with one leg, let's do that one day'.
"Fifteen years later, I got an opportunity to go to France. The record was 183km.
"I skied at 186km, broke the record and obviously from there, [the] big thing was 200km.
"After skiing at 200km, the next big thing was always the Australian Open record, which was 212.26 kilometres an hour.
"And to bump it up to 213.65km, as a skier in Australia, I'm a big fish in a small pond in some ways.
"But you know, as an athlete with a disability to hold an open Australian record and the world record for an athlete with disability is cool and really justifies me when I have a go at all my two-legged friends."
Michael Milton is Australia's most successful Paralympian. Getty
Milton is looking to make his sixth appearance at a Winter Paralympic Games, his debut Games was in 1988 at Innsbruck, Austria and he last competed back in 2006 at Turin.
"I announced [in October] to come back, but in my own mind I've been working on it for a couple of months," he admitted to Wide World of Sports.
"[I've done] some on-snow training in Thredbo, racing national championships. Before I really finalise the decision, I need to have as complete a picture as possible as to how it would work and what level I can ski to these days?
"I've got a good idea of what I need to do. I have an opportunity, between December 6 and Christmas with a block of races that can qualify me in all five alpine disciplines.
"Giant slalom is [already] qualified. Slalom; I'm at the level I can race at the Games as long as I'm there doing something else as opposed to helping qualify in that discipline.
"The Super G, downhill and combined are the other ones and I need to be racing in Europe to qualify for those.
"Hopefully I can get that all done by Christmas, come home, rehab the body a little bit and be back on snow in February as a lead up to the Games."
Michael Milton on his way to winning gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Paralympic Games. Getty
Milton has battled three different cancers during his life.
Bone cancer at age nine, which was the cause of his left-leg amputation, oesophageal cancer during his mid-thirties and bowel cancer at 50.
The persistent health battles haven't stopped the Canberra-native though. During his career, Milton picked up 11 Paralympic medals, six of which were gold.
During the 2002 Games in Salt Lake, Milton produced a historic sweep of the Alpine skiing events of his LW2 (standing classification) class, taking home four gold medals.
The Paralympic team from Australia led by flag-bearer Michael Milton enters the stadium during the opening ceremony of the Turin 2006 Winter Paralympic Games. Getty
That achievement earned the Australian the Laureus World Sportsperson with a Disability of the Year trophy the following year.
Although he is already the most successful Paralympian in Australia, Milton still wants more, starting with a ticket to Milan-Cortina.
"I'm pretty privileged to kind of almost go through three eras as an athlete - 1988, my first Games, totally different," he recalled.
"It was the last Winter Games that wasn't at the same venue as the Olympics.
"We [were] at a time we had to buy our uniform, our green and gold uniform. The Games itself, it was just different and it was a little older, a little rougher.
"What we see here today [in 2026] is alpine, snowboard, biathlon and cross country athletes all coming together.
"Last time I raced, there was no snowboarding."
Australian Paralympians who carried the torch to the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. Getty
At February's 2026 Games, three para-snowboarding hopefuls will be part of the team, Australian captain Sean Pollard, Beijing bronze medallist Ben Tudhope and newcomer Aaron McCarthy.
Milton didn't sit on his hands while off from the slopes. He was assistant alpine coach with the Paralympic team in Sochi 2014 and has collected an Order of Australia, Australian Sports Medal, was inducted into the AIS 'Best of the Best' Hall of Fame and the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
He also became a Summer Paralympian in Beijing 2008, joining the Australian cycling team, and broke the world record for running a marathon with crutches in 2013, his time of 5:23.30 was his first attempt at the feat.
The Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina will follow the Winter Olympics and start on March 6.
