Paralympic gold medallist Jo Butterfield makes switch to wheelchair curling
- Published
Meggan Dawson-Farrell and Gregor Ewan were part of the GB team at the Beijing Games and are in the wheelchair curling squad
Paralympic gold medallist Jo Butterfield has joined the British wheelchair curling squad before the new season.
The 43-year-old won gold in the club throw at the 2016 Rio Games and has also won world and European titles.
She is joined by England's Stewart Pimblett, who has moved up from the transition squad.
Beijing Winter Paralympians Meggan Dawson-Farrell, Gregor Ewan, Hugh Nibloe and Gary Smith all return.
There is also a place for Charlotte McKenna, who was selected for the Paralympics but had to withdraw because of injury.
Butterfield, originally from Yorkshire but now living in Glasgow, was paralysed following an operation to remove a spinal tumour more than a decade ago.
She started her sporting rehabilitation by playing wheelchair rugby before switching to athletics and is now hoping to become the first British athlete to win gold at both a summer and winter Paralympics.
"It is really different in that I am having to use my brain, which I have not done for a long time, but I am enjoying the puzzle and enjoying having something new to learn from scratch," she said.
"I think you initially look at this like most sports and think it can't be that hard, but after my first few weeks of training my brain is frazzled, just trying to soak everything up.
"Naturally my instinct is to be faster, further, stronger, which is great and useful - but there are so many more complexities that come into curling.
"It is not about throwing it the furthest, or throwing it the fastest, it's about making the correct shot at the right time with the correct process. So I am enjoying that mental challenge and physical challenge and just something new."
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