Duvet day well earned as Scott gets into groove

TWO RACES in and Para Nordic skier Scott Meenagh already feels in the groove.

Not for 20 years has ParalympicsGB been represented in the sport but the Cumbernauld man blew off the cobwebs and then some in PyeongChang, the latest entry in his sparkling journey.

After finishing 18th in day one’s biathlon, Meenagh, who tried hockey, skiing, kayaking, canoeing, water skiing and climbing, before alighting on winter sports, went one place better in the men’s 15km sitting cross country.

Yet, with the allure of his historic moment still evident, there’s a feeling that bigger performances could be on the horizon – so long as he can get some sleep.

“I really enjoyed that, I gave it everything. I left everything out there, I’m so tired now,” said Meenagh.

“When you turn the light off that’s when you really start to truly and deeply analyse what went on during the day.

“It’s been amazing and fortunately I managed to get to sleep last night and to be straight back up and on to that buzz today has been unreal.

“I feel like I’m in a rhythm now. I’ve got the steam out of the system and today when we came in we were a lot more relaxed and I got into my groove and raced my race today.

For Meenagh a well-earned rest day awaits before four more days of events to come, not that the busy schedule is causing too many problems.

But the day of recuperation is likely to be a mental as well as physical benefit, a chance to take stock at what has gone before in a rapid 18 months since taking up the sport.

And with the biathlon and cross country outings far from done yet, Meenagh is relishing in the chance to show what he is capable of in pursuit of a top-10 finish.

“To race under the British flag is a huge privilege and to be doing it on this stage and in the public eye is a great honour,” he added.

“You inevitably get tired with so many races but I’ve been racing every race at World Cups this year so we are well practiced in our re- covery strategies. This is what we are here for so we’ll race smart and recover smart.

“All the big boys came here today and to consider myself among them and to be providing credible results on that start line with such talent is great. I’m very proud to call myself a Paralympian and to consider myself among them.”