Female Chef de Mission possible for Sochi THE Australian Paralympic Committee is leaning towards naming a woman to fill the role of Chef de Mission at next year's Sochi Winter Games breaking new ground for both the Paralympics and Olympics. It's understood the APC is seriously considering naming a woman to coincide with the 'One Year to Go' countdown to the Sochi Paralympics next March. No woman has ever led an Australian team into either a Summer or Winter Games, although Kitty Chiller was deputy chef for last year's London Olympics in August and then Kate McLoughlin was deputy chef at the London Paralympics in September. Two-time Olympian and gold medallist at the Salt Lake City Games, Alisa Camplin-Warner, headed the national team to the 2012 Winter Youth Games in Innsbruck. And three-time Olympic swimmer, Susie O'Neill, will fill that position at next year's Summer Youth Olympics to be held at Nanjing in China. Test events for the Sochi Paralympics, to be held from March 7-16 next year, are running right now in the Russian city just as the Olympic sports had their familiarisation competitions last month. Although the first Summer Paralympic Games started in 1960, the first Winter Games were not held until 1976 in adiÖrnsk adildsvik, Sweden. The Sochi Paralympics will be staged over five winter sports: Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey andWheelchair Curling. The Australian team of at the Vancouver Winter Games - 11 athletes and 3 sighted guides - returned home with 4 medals (1 silver and 3 bronze) doubling its medal tally from Torino in 2006. Among those medals was a bronze to Victorian Jessica Gallagher in slalom. That was Australia's first Winter Paralympic medal won by a woman athlete.