Seven British Disabled Ski Team (BDST) athletes accompanied by three Guides will be representing the UK at the Sochi Winter Paralympic Games which start this Friday, 7th March and continue to the 16th of March.
The selected athletes, all skiers, are Mick Brennan, Jade Etherington (with guide Caroline Powell), Kelly Gallagher (with guide Charlotte Evans), Millie Knight (with guide Rachael Ferrier), Ben Sneesby, Anna Turney and James Whitley.
Mick Brennan started to learn adaptive just over five years ago as part of his rehabilitation programme following an incident while on military duty in Iraq nearly a decade ago.
Jade Etherington first skied, aged eight, during a family holiday and skied recreationally for 10 years before joining the BDST Development Squad in 2009. At the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, Spain, Jade secured a bronze medal win in the Super-G and also won silver in the Super-G at the Paralympic Test Event in Sochi.
Kelly Gallagher first skied on a trip to Andorra when she was 17 and joined the BDST Development Squad in 2008, before making her international debut at the Winter Games in New Zealand in August 2009.
Just 15 years old in January and still studying for GCSEs, Millie Knight will make her Paralympic debut in Sochi, having first tried skiing in 2006 while on holiday in France. She joining the BDST Development Squad in November 2012 and in spring 2013 began racing at Europa Cup level in Slalom and Giant Slalom.
19 year old Ben Sneesby first tried skiing on a dry ski slope when he was 11 years old and quickly took to the sport. He was talent spotted and was invited to become one of the first members of the BDST Youth Development Squad at age 13 and will make his Paralympic debut in Sochi.
Anna Turney was a snowboard racer when, in 2006, she broke her back while competing. She returned to the slopes in 2007 and took up sit-skiing and made her GB debut in Canada in 2008 before competing at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver where she ranked 6th in the Slalom.
16 year old James Whitley has been skiing since he was four years old and made his international debut when he was 11. Last year he competed in his first major international, the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, Spain, finishing 16th in the Giant Slalom.
For more information on the Paralympic Games and the British Team visit:
http://sochi.paralympics.org.uk/athletes/category/alpine-skiing
http://www.sochi2014.com/en