Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics - Millie Knight wins Great Britain's first medal in women's downhill
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ByEurosport
Published 05/03/2022 at 09:21 GMT
Millie Knight has won Great Britain's first medal at the Winter Paralympics, picking up the bronze medal with her guide Brett Wild in the women's visually-impaired downhill at the Yanqing National Alpine Centre. Knight said afterwards: "This bronze is something very special. It ranks above our silver four years ago in Pyeongchang." Britain's other competitor Menna Fitzpatrick came fifth.
Millie Knight of Team Great Britain celebrates winning Bronze with her guide Brett Wild after the Women's Downhill Vision Impaired at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre
Image credit: Getty Images
Skier Millie Knight has won Great Britain's first medal at the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
The 23-year-old and her guide Brett Wild claimed a bronze medal in the women's visually-impaired downhill, finishing in a time of 1:23.20.
Slovakia's Henrieta Farkasova won her third gold medal in a row with a time of 1:19.50 while China's Zhu Daqing took silver (1:21.75) on her Paralympic debut.
It's a remarkable achievement for the Brit who suffered psychological trauma and four concussions in five years which left her questioning whether she had a future in the sport.
"At the start I was just thinking, find the seconds, do anything you can do to go faster, it doesn't matter if you're scared, keep going," Knight said.
"This bronze is something very special. It ranks above our silver four years ago in Pyeongchang.
"We have gone through some tough things and it has changed us.
"Brett's belief and confidence in me has very much inspired me and made me want to do it not just for me, my family friends and sponsors, but for him.
"Crossing the line with a smile on my face was our number one goal. We genuinely didn't believe we were at the level that would get us a medal, especially with the standard at the moment.
"I feel like I'm on cloud nine and I just genuinely can't believe that this is happening to us."
Great Britain's Mena Fitzpatrick came fifth with her guide Gary Smith in what was one of her weaker events. The pair will next race in Sunday's super-G.
In the men's visually-impaired event, Neil Simpson, guided by his brother Andrew, finished seventh in a race won by Austrian 16-year-old Johannes Aigner.
James Whitley had a best-ever finish with ninth in the men's standing division in his third Winter Paralympics appearance.
Britain's Scott Meenagh claimed his first Paralympic top-10 finish, coming ninth in the men's sprint seated event.
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