Aussie Paralympians confident of medals Australia's Winter Paralympic team might appear depleted, but that's exactly what makes them a stronger chance of winning medals, head coach Steve Graham says. Australia took its largest-ever team of 11 skiers and three guides to the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics and returned with one silver and three bronze medals to finish 16th on the medal tally. But they didn't win a gold, which Graham wants to rectify. With the Australian Paralympic Committee aiming for 15th place at March's Sochi Games, the head coach for the 1994, 2006 and 2010 Games says a smaller, more experienced group is integral to achieving that. Six alpine skiers and two guides will make the trip to Sochi, all of whom have won medals at World Cups. Up to two, possibly three, snowboarders will also compete if they qualify in the new discipline added for these Games. "We did a real review of the program after we went to Sochi (for the test event) last March," Graham told AAP on Friday. We culled those people that have never won a medal at a world level before. That's the biggest change and the biggest tactic, and that's because Russia is really unknown. The weather is unstable, it's a long way away and a lot can go wrong. And the competition is getting better and better every season. It means we can focus all our energies on people that can win medals. Among the hopefuls will be dual Vancouver bronze-medal winner Cameron Rahles-Rahbula, who will come out of his September retirement for his fourth and final Games. He will join 2006 Turin bronze medallist Toby Kane and newcomer Tori Pendergast, who will race on her hi-tech custom-built sit-ski. Vision-impaired Jessica Gallagher, who in Vancouver became Australia's first female Winter Paralympic medallist, will also compete, along with 2013 IPC World Cup gold medallist Mitch Gourley. The athletes had their last taste of the 2013 summer on Friday as the team was farewelled at Sydney Harbour before leaving on Saturday for training camps and pre-Games events in the US and Europe. Kane, who will stay in Australia until early December to complete exams for his medicine degree, said he was determined to bring home a medal. "I'd love to bring home more than one, and skiing is one of those sports where anything can happen on the day," he said. I think everyone on the trip kind of knows that Russia's it.