Winter Paralympics: Millie Knight and Brett Wild win downhill bronze
- Published
Millie Knight made her Paralympic debut as a 15-year-old in Sochi in 2014
Paralympic Games |
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Venue: Beijing, China Dates: 4-13 March Time in Beijing: GMT +8 |
Skier Millie Knight defeated her demons as she won Great Britain's first medal of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
The 23-year-old suffered a number of crashes and concussions which left her questioning her future in the sport.
But Knight and guide Brett Wild claimed bronze in the women's visually-impaired downhill.
"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.
Knight and Wild, who took silver four years ago, put in a solid run on the opening day of competition at the Yanqing National Alpine Centre to finish in one minute 23.20 seconds.
Slovakia's Henrieta Farkasova won her third gold in a row in a time of 1:19.50.
China's Zhu Daqing took silver (1:21.75) on her Paralympic debut, earning the host nation's first-ever individual Winter Paralympic medal.
Menna Fitzpatrick, Britain's other competitor, was fifth with guide Gary Smith in what is one of her weaker events.
Knight, who is competing in her third Games, added: "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."
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 16-year-old Austrian Johannes Aigner, with only 0.65 seconds separating the top three finishers.
In his third Games, James Whitley had a best finish with ninth in the men's standing division.
Great Britain's mixed wheelchair curling team came back from their opening match defeat to beat the United States.
The team triumphed 10-6 after narrowly losing 7-5 to Norway earlier in the day.
Meenagh in highest Paralympic placing
Scott Meenagh put everything into his opening competition
At the Zhangjiakou Biathlon Centre, Scott Meenagh, at his second Games, claimed his first Paralympic top-10 finish with ninth in the men's sprint seated event.
Meenagh was one minute and 43 seconds behind gold medallist Liu Zixu of China while Callum Deboys, on his Games debut, was 17th.
However, Steve Arnold was unable to take part in the event after testing positive for Covid-19 prior to his departure for China.
Under Games rules, participants must return two negative Covid tests within 96 hours of departure of their flight and the 32-year-old, who was set to make his Games debut in China, will remain in the UK and work with the ParalympicsGB medical team while all options are assessed.
The former Army sergeant, who lost his legs while serving in Afghanistan in 2011, was entered in six events across biathlon and cross country at the Games.