COMEBACK IS THE KEY FOR SHONA
Musician Brownlee ready to race back into medal places
MUSICAL Shona Brownlee insists she can bounce back from her debut Paralympic setback to hit all the right notes in Beijing.
Sitting skier Brownlee, from Livingston in Scotland, first strapped herself into an innovative alpine ‘sit-ski’ four years ago and has rocked all the way to the summit after a searing year.
But she could only finish sixth on her debut Super-G run on Sunday, before being undone by a gruelling, technically challenging slalom course in Monday’s Super Combined and suffering a fall midway down.
Away from the slopes, versatile military veteran Brownlee boasts a Masters degree in music, plays the French horn and piano and works as a musician in the Royal Air Force.
She goes again in the sitting Giant Slalom event on Saturday and hopes that immersing herself in the big stage experience can fire her into contention.
The 42-year-old said: “It’s my first Paralympic Games and I’m just pleased to be here. I feel like this is just the start and I can get better.”
Brownlee added: “Music is what I grew up with and is my career.
“It’s tough when we’re away as I can’t normally travel with my French horn, but it’s nice when I’m back and can sit in with the band – it feels like normality.
“But when I’m at the top at the start gate I like it to be quiet – music can be distracting as I concentrate on it too much, so I quite like that focus.”
Menna Fitzpatrick consolidated her status as Britain’s most decorated Winter Paralympian as she secured a surprise sixth medal at a Games ahead of compatriot Millie Knight.
Fitzpatrick followed up her Sunday Super-G silver as a superb second run in the Super Combined Slalom saw her leapfrog Knight and claim the bronze medal behind 11-time Paralympic champion Henrieta Farkasova of Slovakia and home favourite Zhu Daqing.
Skiing siblings Neil and Andrew Simpson added a bronze to their history-making Super-G gold.
The brothers from Banchory in Aberdeenshire became the first British men ever to strike Olympic or Paralympic gold on snow on Sunday, before going on to bank Super Combined bronze the next day.
Meanwhile, medal hopeful James Barnes-Miller could only finish fifth in his snowboard cross event, while Britain’s wheelchair curlers experienced a mixed day at the Ice Cube as they smashed Switzerland 15-1 before going on to lose 7-3 to Slovakia.
‘At the start gate I like it to be quiet. Music can be distracting’ – Shona