KNIGHT SWOOPS TO GIVE BRITISH A FLYING START
MILLIE KNIGHT declared a daring downhill descent her proudest Paralympic performance after getting Britain off to a day-one flyer in Beijing.
The three-time PyeongChang 2018 medallist, who competes in the visually impaired alpine skiing classification, grabbed ParalympicsGB’s first medal of the Games as a gutsy run propelled her to bronze.
Knight’s preparation for Beijing had been derailed by a series of four concussions – including a serious incident in Leogang, Austria last year – that led to her fearing the fast-paced downhill event and even flirt with the prospect of hanging up her skis.
But the two-time silver medallist battled back from the brink to beat Czech Alexandra Rexova onto the podium and secure a fourth Paralympic gong.
The Canterbury speedster, who has around just five percent vision in both eyes and is guided by Brett Wild (also celebrating, above) said: “It definitely ranks way above the others.
“We’re very different people now – between now and then we’ve gone through some really tough things which have changed us.
“To achieve this is just unbelievable and is very surreal – when I was sat back in the UK, crossing the line with a smile on my face was my No.1 goal.
“A medal was certainly something we weren’t aiming for because we genuinely didn’t believe we were at that level.
“To be standing here now as bronze medallists is the most unbelievable thing.” Four-time PyeongChang medallist and defending slalom champion Menna Fitzpatrick, 23, finished fifth behind Knight on a jam-packed day of opening action for the Brits in Beijing.
Skiing siblings Neil and Andrew Simpson came seventh in their visually impaired men’s downhill event, while in the men’s standing classification, James Whitley finished ninth.
Nordic skiers Scott Meenagh and Callum Deboys also kicked off their campaigns in the punishing men’s 6km sitting biathlon sprint, finishing ninth and 17th in challenging Zhangjiakou conditions.
And ParalympicsGB’s wheelchair curlers took to the Beijing ice twice yesterday, recovering from a 7-5 afternoon defeat against Norway to sink the USA
10-6.
The British rink were due to play Russia today but have a day away from the
Ice Cube since the Russians’ 11th-hour ban from the Games after the invasion of Ukraine.
And Sochi 2014 bronze medallist Gregor Ewan, 50, said: “It’s always hard to bounce back after a defeat and when you’re playing the USA, it’s always a really hard game.
“The round robin stage is never easy – we know we need five or six wins to qualify.
“Even though we’ve got a day off we’re going to continue working – before coming back the next day to start again from scratch.”
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