Michael Milton Interview (Brink Vault)

The 'vault' is once again opened today as we go back to 2010 and feature our very first Paralympian by chatting with the greatest Australian Winter Paralympics athlete Michael Milton. From the early challenges he had to overcome right through his change into summer sports, it's all covered in this entertaining chat.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.

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BEN WATERWORTH: As we come to you for another one of our vault interviews, going through some classic interviews with past and, well, mainly past Olympians throughout the history of our parent show, The Brink. And today, it's a bit of a different one. Our first ever Paralympian, and one of the greatest Paralympians to ever grace this earth, an outstanding athlete, Michael Milton, who is the most successful Australian Paralympic athlete ever in the Winter Olympics. He has won 6 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze across his Estella career, and also did go on to compete in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in cycling. He wasn't able to add to his medal tally, but one of the very few, I guess, Australian athletes to ever compete in both Winter and Summer Paralympic Games. And just an outstanding athlete, very inspirational, and this was a very fun chat back from 2010. So, we hope you enjoy it. I certainly did, and it's great to be living through these memories. So, here we go. Michael Milton is the greatest ever Paralympic athlete in the Winter Games for Australia. And here is that chat from 2010.

BEN WATERWORTH: Michael Milton first strapped a pair of skis to his legs when he was only three years old, before bone cancer caused him to lose a leg when he was nine. Despite the personal setback, Michael went on to become one of Australia's most successful Paralympic athletes, making his debut at just 14 at the 1988 Winter Paralympics and going on to win 11 Paralympic medals in total. Michael has also tried his hand at speed skiing and is currently the world's fastest disabled skier. Recently, Michael has been involved in motivational speaking, as well as swapping the Winter Paralympics for the summer, competing in the 2008 Paralympics in cycling in Beijing. During the week, I spoke to Michael about his career and what he can expect for the future. Michael, thank you very much for your time here in the ring this morning.

MICHAEL MILTON: Good morning.

BEN WATERWORTH: You first started skiing at the age of three. Now, how does a three-year-old Canberra boy get involved in skiing?

MICHAEL MILTON: I guess my parents had a real passion for the sport. They actually had their honeymoon skiing, so they started a ski shop the year I was born, and it was pretty natural for both my sister and I to learn to ski at a young age.

BEN WATERWORTH: So did you sort of go out to, what, thread bow and sort of learn your craft out that way?

MICHAEL MILTON: Oh, I think I first went to Mount Selwyn in the early days, and then, yeah, spent a lot of time at thread bow as well.

BEN WATERWORTH: And is it hard, given that, obviously, skiing isn't one of Australia's key sports that we're involved in, is it hard getting involved in such a sport that doesn't have the popularity of some of the other sports?

MICHAEL MILTON: I guess getting involved with it is not hard, especially when you're only living a couple of hours away from the biggest ski resorts in the country. There are obviously challenges in terms of getting to the top at a world level because our competition season is outside of the major competition season. There's not the same opportunities or competition, particularly for an athlete with a disability. So it's not the easiest sport to get into at a high level, but for myself, it was a very rewarding one.

BEN WATERWORTH: And has it changed a lot since when you first got to start, given the exposure, I suppose, coming up to the Winter Olympics at this time of the year? Is it a lot easier to get involved in it compared to when you did?

MICHAEL MILTON: I guess there's a support network there that is certainly better than when I started. As an athlete with a disability, I got into the sport and pretty much competed against able-bodied kids the same age. These days, there's certainly more of a structure and more support from the Australian Paralympic Committee. Things are a lot more formalised, and in many ways, that makes it easier.

BEN WATERWORTH: Was the Olympics always a goal for you? And was the achievement always sort of to try and be our nation's first Winter Olympic medallist?

MICHAEL MILTON: Certainly, you know, the Paralympics was always a goal for me to get to. I think I've got a bit of videotape of me, 11, starting to talk about wanting to go to the Paralympic Games. And for me, that was a huge goal. So that was always something I was striving for and wanted to be a part of. I think it's pretty natural as a kid when you get into a sport, you know, you want to be the best you can be at it, and you want to be the best in the world at it. And that means competing at that level.

BEN WATERWORTH: And you made your debut at the 1988 Winter Olympics. You were only 14, Michael. Was this a challenge given that you're in the world's biggest sporting stage, you're 14 years of age? I mean, it must have been hard.

MICHAEL MILTON: Yeah, absolutely, you know. I had a great team support structure around me. There was a few times, you know, when the coaches would have to stay home with me, some of the other athletes, the entire team might go out for a dinner and a couple of drinks afterwards, I'd go to dinner and then go home with the coaches. And things like that. There are always going to be challenges competing at a senior level without the same physical, emotional development. But we had a good support structure around me. And I think from my point of view, it was really good to be a part of things at such a young age, because it meant that by the time I was physically mature enough and starting to ski at the top level, I was really ready to perform at the highest level.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now, a lot of people probably be aware, we've had Stephen Bradbury on the show. Many people see him as our nation's first Winter Olympic gold medallist. Many people might not be aware, though, that you were Australia's first Winter Paralympic or Olympic gold medallist when you won gold in the 92 Albertville Games. Is this an achievement, obviously, that must feel absolutely magnificent? Go on your resume there, Michael.

MICHAEL MILTON: It was a magic time in my life at 19 years of age, winning my first Paralympic gold medal and my country's first medal, too. The atmosphere around the team with our first success. I won gold that day, Michael Milton from Victoria won bronze. You know, it was amazing to have that success in the atmosphere because there had been so many people behind the scenes working towards it for so long. And to be a part of their reward for putting in for such a long period of time was amazing.

BEN WATERWORTH: What was the public's reaction like back in 92 with that gold medal on your name there? Was there a lot of attention given that it was our first Winter Olympic sort of gold medal in either Paralympics or Olympics, or was it kind of forgotten?

MICHAEL MILTON: I guess my expectations were very low back then. You know, I came home and got interviewed by local television, which was huge for me. I, you know, went to an Aussie rules game down in Melbourne and was, you know, part of the function there and got presented at half time. There was, you know, there seemed to be lots of things going on and even though it probably wasn't huge from my point of view, it was a big part of things. I guess, you know, there wasn't, you know, it was five minutes of time and it literally lasted a week and then I got back to normal life and work.

BEN WATERWORTH: And then given today, though, that you're probably a very well-known figure, though. I mean, times have changed, I suppose, of that, Michael.

MICHAEL MILTON: Absolutely. It's been one of the really great things about my career is to see the evolution of Paralympic sport in the way athletes with disabilities are treated. It really has evolved and, you know, being a part of things when I secured my first, uh, sponsorship, um, in 2002, ten years after I won my first Paralympic gold medal, to be a part of that era and the part of that evolution has been fantastic.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now over the course of your career, you went on to compete in three more Winter Paralympics and you've got a total of 11 medals, including six gold. Did you ever think you would achieve this level of success?

MICHAEL MILTON: You know, it's always something you hope for. It's always something that you go out on a day-to-day basis and try and win, um, races and perform at your very best. Um, and, uh, you know, I guess, uh, to be able to come home with, um, with hardware is always a wonderful feeling and one of the rewards for the work that you put in.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now for the 2006 Torino Olympics, which turned out to be your last Winter Games, they were drastically affected in your category where previously it only allowed people with one leg to compete, but then they included people who could just stand. Now, what were your thoughts on this and did it make winning that silver medal all that more special?

MICHAEL MILTON: You know, the classification system changed. There was some change, so before 2004 at Paralympic level, I would compete against other athletes with one leg, and then in 2006, I was competing against athletes with one arm who wear a prosthetic while skiing. Basically, anybody with CP, anybody who could stand up skiing, so it made the field a lot deeper. It turned a race of around 40 athletes who would qualify for the Paralympics into a race of over 100. It meant that it was certainly a lot tougher. To me, they were good things, but there were some negative points to it as well in terms of having a level playing field and the fairness of the race. They used a mathematical handicapping system based on previous race results from the best person in each category to calculate that to me, it wasn't as fair as the previous system. So there were some negatives and some positives to it, but in the end, I felt like on that day, I skied as well as I could possibly expect to. And for me, I guess it was on the day about the way I skied and the way I performed and I was generally pretty happy with that.

BEN WATERWORTH: And of course you get a silver medal out of it, so you can't complain about that, can you Michael?

MICHAEL MILTON: No, absolutely not. I guess there is not the same feeling as winning a gold because you're not on the top step of the podium, particularly when you dominate all the other skiers who ski in the same format as you with one leg, and you really have a really great run and think you have performed at your very best, but you still fall short. There's probably some feelings there of regret and of wishing that is the old system.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's a similar thing, I suppose, too, when you competed in Beijing at the Olympics. I remember watching it on TV, and you'd come up there, he's Michael Milton, he's doing his lap, and then the competitor after you, instead of having, say, the one leg, he's got two prosthetic legs, but he looks like he's going about 20 times faster than we were doing. Now, is this sort of the similar concept? A lot of people, I suppose, get confused with the way they categorise it. Do you think that's an obstacle that the Paralympics need to overcome to get a better awareness of how they do this?

MICHAEL MILTON: You know, it's one of the biggest challenges and issues within the Paralympic movement. You've got basically a continuous spectrum of people, from quite severe disabilities through to quite minor disabilities, and then you've got to classify them into certain groups of people who you think, and you make it as fair as possible, who you can compete on a level playing field. And in the end, there are going to be times that it works well, and there are going to be times that it maybe doesn't work so well. It's a continuous challenge, and you've also got the difficulties of not being able to put one system in place, because in every sport, different types of disabilities react in a different way. It's just extremely complex, and it's certainly a big issue for people to watch Paralympic sport on television, to understand how some of these things work. And it's on an individual sports basis, and everybody does it differently. I think some sports are doing it better than others. But in the end, I guess, as an athlete, you want to go to an event, which is on the world stage, like the Paralympic Games, and you want to compete on a level playing field.

BEN WATERWORTH: What brought on the change to go into cycling and then for the goal to compete at the Beijing Olympics?

MICHAEL MILTON: I guess the catalyst for change in the end was the lifestyle that skiing requires, being overseas for four to six months every year, you know, lots of travel, not really able to have a normal life or a normal job at home or anything like that. And my wife at the time, we had a baby on the way. You know, I really wanted to be home for all of those things, and we don't have the resources of some of the major sporting teams to be able to take our families and wives and stuff overseas and travel together and all these sorts of things or even for part of the time. So, you know, for me, that meant the retirement skiing, and in the end, it was good timing for me anyway. I think I performed at my very best in my late twenties and was starting to go downhill a little bit. But at the same time, I still had the competitive desire, the desire to compete and to, you know, really challenge myself and test myself. And so I looked towards my other passion in life, which was riding my bike, went to Adelaide, tried out the velodrome, saw a bit of potential, and then started to work towards trying to qualify for the Beijing Paralympic Games.

BEN WATERWORTH: And of course, you went on to qualify for the Beijing Summer Olympics there too. Was it difficult to adapt to a summer Olympic environment rather than a winter Olympic and Paralympic environment? Or are they both pretty much the same?

MICHAEL MILTON: I think there's huge differences, you know, going from a sport where the person who wins a ski race is the person who has the best technique, and then going to a bike race where the person who wins a bike race is the person who's the fittest and strongest. And the change in emphasis in terms of training, even little things like the different cultures within the organisation, from a serious, disciplined sport like cycling, coming from a skiing background where things, you know, the types of personalities of people that are attracted to the sport are people who may be a little bit more relaxed, a little more carefree. You know, there was some quite major challenges in all of those things for me, transferring from one sport to another.

BEN WATERWORTH: You must love the weather, though, then, you're not having to hang around the snow all the time.

MICHAEL MILTON: Well, you know, after 20 years, nearly 20 years of avoiding summer and going overseas every time it hit 25 degrees, 30 degree days scared me, and 40 degree days were unimaginable. So, yeah, it was something that was pretty scary for me, being home for an Australian summer for the first time since I was a child, really, since I was 13 years old.

BEN WATERWORTH: You had to get a different wardrobe.

MICHAEL MILTON: It was a tough thing for me, and I think over the last three or four years, my body has certainly started to acclimatise to be better in summer, but I think I still prefer the winter.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. I'm with you there, Michael. I hate summer. Coming from Hobart, where we used to be cold, you get a 25 degree day here and we're melting. I couldn't imagine being 30 degree days all the time out there. Now, also, you do hold the record for the world's fastest ski with a disability, as well as the Australian speed ski record for abled or disabled athletes, speed 213.65 kilometres an hour. Now, what does it feel like, travelling at 200 kilometres an hour?

MICHAEL MILTON: Yeah, you know, it's an amazing feeling, going at that speed, and, you know, for me, snow has magical properties, and, you know, the amount of fun you can have on it, the speed you can go on it, is absolutely amazing, and to set a goal to become Australia's fastest ever skier, with or without a disability, was a major challenge for me, and something that I worked hard towards for a long time, and, you know, the feeling of going at 213 kilometres an hour is absolutely, as you'd expect it to be, it's extremely scary, it's tough mentally, it's tough physically, battling against the buffeting wind, yeah, you know, it's an amazing feeling, and really one of my lifetime achievements that I'm very, very proud of.

BEN WATERWORTH: It just must be an amazing feeling, I couldn't imagine it, but also, Michael, you've recently gone into the world of motivational speaking with Saxton Speakers, can you tell us a bit about what brought this on in the role of motivational speaking?

MICHAEL MILTON: Yeah, I guess, you know, as an athlete with a disability in a sport where there's no real prize money, you know, you've got to look at different ways to earn a living and to try and, you know, pay for your sporting habit, particularly as a skier, you know, when you're overseas for four to six months a year, it doesn't really allow to have a normal job. And while you're overseas, you're, you know, spending money hand over foot on equipment, on transport, on lift tickets, on everything. So, yeah, you know, for me, speaking was a way of really being able to have a job and work in an area that had good financial rewards didn't require me to be in the country year round. And it was also something I felt like I had a little bit of talent for and some of the great stories about, you know, what it's really like to ski it over 200 kilometres an hour. Some of the challenges I faced, some of the lessons that I've learnt throughout my lifetime of having disability, they're all topics that I think many people are interested in. And I guess these days, after having gone through cancer twice as well, there's more stories there about overcoming challenges. And it's, you know, I guess an industry that for me has worked very, very well in terms of being able to pay for my sporting habits.

BEN WATERWORTH: And obviously a very rewarding feeling, too, given that you can help their motivational speak towards people. And the reception you get from that, too, must also give you a very rewarding feeling at the end of it.

MICHAEL MILTON: Absolutely. You know, I get some fantastic messages through my website of people who have heard me speak and really come out of the session feeling good, feeling like they can achieve things and overcome the challenges in their life. And at the same time, when you're up at the end of a presentation and you've got, you know, 500 to 1,000 people clapping away, you know, in many ways, it is like a sporting performance. You're up there to perform, and if you perform well, then one of those rewards is the applause that you get at the end of it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now look, Michael, we're nearly at the end of our interview. Now before we wrap things up with a set of questions we like to ask all our guests, not sure if you are aware of it or not, but here on The Brink, we are trying to campaign to get the Summer Olympics to Hobart in 2020. Now we're getting support, we need more of it. Can we get your backing for a 2020 Olympics in Hobart?

MICHAEL MILTON: Well, that's a tough question, you know. I guess when I hear something like that, my mind goes back to Roy and HG's bid to have the Winter Games in Smygans Holes, which is an extremely small ski resort in New South Wales.

BEN WATERWORTH: Not the first time we've been compared to that.

MICHAEL MILTON: I'm hesitant to understand the seriousness of your bid, but certainly if you send me some paperwork, some of the special bid documents, then I'll be happy to put my name behind it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, look, Tiwa, we started off as a bit of a joke, but given the level of support we're achieving with it now from local politicians and that who are sort of going, look, why not? And previous guests and the likes of Bradbury and Jane Saville that we've had on the show, we're getting this. And look, we're happy to send you through some stuff, and we'll get your name on it if you like that.

MICHAEL MILTON: That would be fantastic. I think maybe I can give you some advice straight up front that maybe 2020 is a little bit early. I think maybe you might need another 10 or 12 years to recruit a couple more million people to Tasmania to build the stadiums and all the infrastructure required. I mean, I've competed down in Tasmania in the Mark Webber Challenge last year, and, you know, I mean, it's a beautiful natural environment. I think it would be a fantastic setting for the Olympic Games.

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, that's good. Good to hear that we can get you on there if we send you through some stuff. Now, look, Michael, just quickly wrap it up with a set of four questions. I'd like to ask our guests probably the easiest questions you will ever get asked in your career. So if you're nice and relaxed, we'll get straight into it now.

MICHAEL MILTON: Are they things like my name and how old I am?

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, well, maybe a little bit more difficult than that, possibly. Maybe a bit more thought process, but we'll start off with what's your favourite type of cheese?

MICHAEL MILTON: Oh, my favourite type of cheese would have to be a nice French brie.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes.

MICHAEL MILTON: I spent a lot of time in France, speed skiing, and some of the cheeses over there are pretty wacky and pretty horrible, but a good French brie is very nice.

BEN WATERWORTH: Very popular choice, the brie one. A lot of the guests like that one. Question number two, are you a fold or a scruncher?

MICHAEL MILTON: I fold.

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, that's what we like to hear. The intelligent people fold, Michael. That's what we like to hear.

MICHAEL MILTON: Maybe it's got to do with the asymmetrical shape of my rear end, but folding seems to work better for me.

BEN WATERWORTH: I never thought of it that way. There you go. Question number three, are we alone in the universe?

MICHAEL MILTON: I believe we are.

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. I think it might be a Winter Olympic athlete sort of thing, because Stephen Bradbury was our only previous guest to say we're alone as well.

MICHAEL MILTON: Oh, really? I guess, you know, I'm a very rational person, and I've never seen any proof otherwise.

BEN WATERWORTH: Maybe it's the snow. Maybe the snow goes to your brain or something.

MICHAEL MILTON: Absolutely possibly. You know, there's actually quite a bit of a trait in winter athletes to lose their hair quite early. And we're yet to work out if it's the amount of time that we wear our helmets or whether it's something to do with the climate.

BEN WATERWORTH: Maybe we should look into that one as well.

MICHAEL MILTON: Yeah, you'll see it next week. The two Alpine skiers competing for Australia, Craig Branch and Jon O'Brough, are both limited in the hair department, as am I.

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm sure come Vancouver time, we're seeing, you know, 25-year-old athletes going bald and people going, what's going on there? And our final question, Michael, of course, with the Hobart 2020 Olympics, we're always open to suggestions for events. Is there a particular event that might not necessarily be on the Olympics schedule, winter or summer, that you wouldn't mind seeing get a bit of a go at the Hobart Olympics?

MICHAEL MILTON: Oh, you told me these were going to be easy and you're forcing me to use my underpowered brain. Is there a particular event that I would like to see? You know, what about, well, thinking of Tasmania and, you know, what you guys are good at? Wood shopping would come to mind.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes.

MICHAEL MILTON: I would love to see, it would be good to have you guys well represented. Maybe something like adventure racing.

BEN WATERWORTH: That could work as well. Get Mark Webber challenged as an Olympic event, he can be the forefront of that, you know.

MICHAEL MILTON: That would be fantastic.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, the...

MICHAEL MILTON: Some sort of, you know, use the Tasmanian nature, a bit of mountain biking, a bit of trail running, make some kayaking or swimming.

BEN WATERWORTH: Go well.

MICHAEL MILTON: We're a bit of an off-road triathlon.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, absolutely. We are, when we spoke to David Foster about it, he was all for the wood chopping and of course our main stadium is actually named after David Foster, the David Foster Stadium. So there we go. And the wood chopping in the main stadium, it worked brilliantly. Michael Milton, thank you very much for your time today. It has been an absolute pleasure having you on board. Good luck with everything in the future and hopefully the motivational speaking will go very well for you as well.

MICHAEL MILTON: Thanks very much.

BEN WATERWORTH: And I should say that with Michael, he did actually go to the Sochi Games as an assistant coach to the Australian Paralympic team. And also, since that interview, broke the world record for running a marathon with crutches in 2013, 7th of July, a time of five hours, 23 minutes and 30 seconds. So that certainly is an incredible achievement. And also, again, since that interview, has been inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2014, as well as the ACT Sports Hall of Fame. So, amazing career, an amazing athlete, and we appreciate Michael's time, of course, on this show. And as we've said, with plenty of these vault interviews, we'll get him on the show again and see how all that plays out and get his opinion heading up into Pyeongchang in 2018. You can listen to all these other interviews headed to iTunes. Easiest way, subscribe to us. You can find all our old interviews there. Like us on Facebook, stay up to date with what's going on in the programme. We always appreciate any songs or messages, comments, feedback. And Colin, Jared, myself, we read them all, so thank you. You can do that on iTunes, of course, and just stay up to date. If there's anyone, perhaps you want us to track down in terms of an interview, we also can do that too. We apparently have amazing sleuthing skills, and we can definitely put those to the test. So thank you again for tuning in. I'll learn to speak properly. Perfect time to close this out, and we'll speak to you next time here on Off The Podium.