Finally. After more than a week, Michael Milton's family was set to make their way to Italy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Then, if all goes to plan, they'll make their way to the Winter Paralympics to watch him compete. Touch wood.
His wife Penni, daughter Matilda and son Angus have been stranded in Qatar since last Friday, after the conflict in Iran closed flight paths in the region.
They got woken up at 2am on Saturday and told to pack their bags - and head to the airport.
With boarding passes in hand, Penni Milton was hopeful they were on their way to watch Milton compete in his sixth Paralympics.
"Cautiously optimistic. Anything can happen in the next couple of hours. Boarding in 90 minutes," Penni told The Canberra Times.
"We're tired because we have only had a few hours' sleep.
"Got the call just before 2am to pack and head down to the lobby for a bus to the airport and a flight to Venice.
"We have boarding passes to Rome.
"Unsure about the connection from there, but just happy to be going to Italy.
"No celebration though until we land because anything can happen between now and then."
Milton was involved in a race against time of his own.
He's recovering from a broken leg he suffered while training in the US about three weeks ago, but has been medically cleared to compete and declared himself fit on Thursday.
The 52-year-old is reviving his career after 20 years in retirement.
He'll compete in the men's giant slalom standing and men's slalom standing - on Friday and Sunday respectively.
Australia's most decorated Winter Paralympian wants to add to his six gold medals.
"Back into gate training. Feeling pretty good all things considered," Milton posted on Facebook.
Michael Milton's family still stranded, 'missile spotting' in Doha, as journey to Paralympics halted
Michael Milton's family remains stranded in Qatar, exhausted, confused, but safe, and still clinging to hope they can make it to Italy in time to cheer him on in a record-setting Paralympics campaign before the Games officially start on Friday.
But the Canberra family faces a nervous wait in a Doha hotel, unsure when or where they will go next, as conflict continues across the Middle East following US and Israel strikes on Iran, causing travel chaos.
"I sent a picture of the view out the window to my sister, and told her I can honestly say it's the first time I've ever done missile spotting," Penni Milton told The Canberra Times.
"When we were stuck in the airport we were so insulated from it all, apart from the alerts, but when we got onto the buses to the hotel and looked up at the sky, it makes you think, 'Oh, there are missiles in that sky'. It brings you down to Earth pretty quickly."
The plan was for Milton's wife Penni, daughter Matilda, 19, and son, Angus, 17, to join Milton at Milano-Cortina to witness his sixth Paralympics appearance, where he is aiming to add to his 11 medals, including six gold.
The family left Canberra on a Qatar Airways flight on Friday afternoon and arrived in Doha the same evening local time, with a scheduled departure early the next morning to Venice.
But as that flight reached the Iraq-Kuwait border, Penni noticed something wasn't right when the aircraft suddenly turned.
"I didn't say anything, but I thought, 'This is not good'," she said.
The plane began circling for roughly 45 minutes, before the pilot finally announced they would return to Doha airport with the airspace over Iraq closed.
It was the beginning of a lengthy delay at the Qatar capital that is now into its third day, and counting.
The family slept at Doha airport nervously awaiting updates on Saturday night, when they were woken in the early hours of Sunday morning and told they would evacuate to a hotel.
By the afternoon airport staff gave little details to concerned travellers, but gathered thousands of people, and took them through to have visas processed.
Penni and her teenage children were not able to collect their luggage and in multiple buses passengers were driven with police escorts to a large building, before they eventually got allocated to a hotel.
"We thought we might have to sleep on mattresses in the big hall, but then we went from a few nights sleeping rough in the airport to five-star luxury with three meals, which was good because we hadn't eaten for 24 hours or had a shower when we got to the hotel," Penni said.
"We have washing machines here, and without all our luggage I've been up early to wash and dry all the clothes.
"I'm obviously relieved to be in the hotel, but I don't feel like I can rest. I've had probably five hours sleep.
"I'm a bit anxious about what's to come, when we leave and how we go about navigating that because the Qataris aren't telling us much, and things to seem to operate largely on a first in and best dressed format.
"There may be a knock on the door, but I also might have to advocate and make sure people know we're here and what we want to do.
"There's not much we can do, but we have to be ready to go at a moment's notice."
Michael Milton is set to compete in the giant slalom and slalom at Milano-Cortina with an LW2 classification, as one of 12 athletes (and two guides) representing Australia over four sports.
The family desperately wants to continue their travels to Italy to be reunited with him despite the many hurdles they've faced, and uncertainty about the route for their return trip to Australia following the Winter Games, amid the Middle East conflict.
"We're very keen to get to Italy," Penni said. "The racing doesn't start till March 7, so I'm hoping that we can get there for that, or earlier.
"Paralympics Australia are across what's happening but there's not too much they can do until the airspace opens."
Milton became the nation's oldest Winter Games athlete when he was officially named in the Australian para-alpine ski team for Milano-Cortina.
This Paralympics comes 20 years after his last tilt in Torino, and will be the first where his children can see him in action, which is why his family is so motivated to reach Italy despite what they've been through.
At the opening ceremony, it will be 7,293 days since Milton's last Winter Paralympics, which beats the previous record time between Games appearances, set by track and field athlete Eliza Stankovic-Mowle from Athens 2004 to Tokyo 2020.
On Monday Milton had his first training on snow since surgery on a fracture on the top of his amputated left leg, which was sustained skiing in Colorado.
In consultation with Australian team doctors in Italy, Milton is awaiting medical clearance to compete as planned, but was upbeat about his progress.
"He's a 100 per cent type of guy. As long as he can control the pain, I think he'll give it his all," Penni said.
"It would be a real shame if for whatever reason we couldn't get to Italy, but we're trying to be optimistic.
"It'll be a really great experience as long as we can get there."
Milton beat cancer three times in his life to become Australia's most decorated winter Paralympian.
Milton had his left leg amputated when he was nine due to bone cancer, and he also survived a battle with oesophageal cancer in 2007, and bowel cancer three years ago.
Games legend's family stranded
Just as Paralympics legend Michael Milton was ready to take on the world in Italy for a history-making Games campaign, his family has been caught up in the conflict erupting in the Middle East.
His wife Penni Milton, with whom he runs a Harry Potter-themed shop in Fyshwick, Canberra, as well as his 17-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter, were on their way to watch the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games starting on March 6.
The family were all supposed to meet in Venice and spend a day together before Milton continued his preparation at the Games venue in Italy.
However, Milton's family were left stranded in Doha due to the airstrikes that began on Saturday night (Australian time) from a USA and Israel-led attack on Iran.
"My family was on a flight out of Doha to Venice this morning but it was forced to return to Doha when Iraq's airspace was shut down as a result of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran," Michael Milton said on his social media accounts.
"No idea when they will be able to continue their journey. Going on for 32 hours of travel time so far.
"War and conflict hits too close to home today and gets me thinking about those who endure this on a daily basis.
"Australia really is the lucky country. Hoping they stay safe but keeping a keen eye on the news for any breaking developments."
Penni Milton spoke to media briefly while stuck at Doha Airport and said there were many passengers sleeping at the terminal, unsure what would happen to their flights.
She explained the moment in the air when passengers were told the sudden change of plans.
"We were almost into Iraqi airspace, I think, and the brakes went on, and we were circling," she said on the Today show.
"The pilot came on and said, 'The airspace is closed', at which point I thought, 'Well something serious had happened'.
"After about 40 minutes of circling the plane returned to Doha."
"Lots of people are sleeping," Penni Milton added.
"It's hard to find a spot where you're not going to wake somebody up.
"There are some people who have been transferred to hotels, but they ran out of beds, so we weren't one of the lucky ones."
As of Sunday morning, the Milton family were unsure when they would depart again for Italy, and they had been told to wait for further updates.
Qatar Airways flies to Doha from Canberra Airport, and those with plans to travel overseas from the capital are encouraged to check with airlines directly for the latest updates on potential cancellations and delays, as well as the Smart Traveller website for advice from the Australian government.
On the weekend Milton celebrated being named in the Australian para-alpine ski team, which at 52 years of age makes him the oldest-ever winter Games athlete.
Milano-Cortina will be his sixth Winter Paralympics appearance, 20 years after his last tilt in Torino.
Milton still needs medical clearance to compete after he required surgery last month for a fracture on the top of his amputated left leg, which was sustained in a Colorado training run.
But Milton was upbeat about his chances to add to his 11-medal Winter Games haul that includes six Paralympics gold medals.
This Games was going to be particularly special for Milton as the first where his children could attend and see him in action.
Despite his age, Milton has managed to overcome all odds, beating cancer three times in his life to become Australia's most decorated winter Paralympian.
Milton had his left leg amputated when he was nine due to bone cancer, and he also survived a battle with oesophageal cancer in 2007, and bowel cancer three years ago.
Milton launched his audacious bid to qualify for the 2026 Paralympic Games in October last year, with the goal to compete in all five alpine disciplines - slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill, and the combined (downhill and slalom).
At the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games, Milton is set to compete in the giant slalom and slalom.
David Polkinghorne
