Sochi, Russia: Anything Britain’s Winter Olympians can do, the Paralympians have shown they can do even better: partially sighted Kelly Gallagher on Monday won the country’s first gold medal on snow at either event.
Gallagher, with her guide Charlotte Evans, took gold in the visually impaired super-G, or super giant slalom, on the slopes of Rosa Khutor high above the Russian city of Sochi.
Maintaining the momentum created by fellow partially sighted skier Jade Etherington, who won silver with her guide Caroline Powell in the women’s downhill on Saturday and added a bronze in the super-G on Monday, Gallagher has made her own piece of history.
It is the first time since the Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics began — in 1924 and 1976 respectively — that a British skier has won a gold medal on the slopes.
Almost exactly a month ago, snowboarder Jenny Jones took bronze to become the first British athlete to win a medal on snow at a Winter Olympics, leading to a surge of interest in her sport.
Gallagher said that she hoped her success would inspire other disabled athletes. “It’s been a difficult journey here and we are so happy to have had so much support from the very start. Today has proven to me that hard work and self belief really does pay off,” said the 28-year-old from Bangor in Northern Ireland.
“I’m so delighted to be part of such a unique and historical moment for British Paralympic sport and I can’t wait to see more disabled skiers out on the mountain now.”
In 2010 in Vancouver, Gallagher managed fourth and sixth-placed finishes at a Games in which the British team failed to win a medal. After just three days of competition, Britain’s 2014 team of seven skiers, plus three guides, and five wheelchair curlers now have three — one of each colour.
Evans must stay within one gate of Gallagher and calls instructions through a headset to relay information about turns and snow conditions. She was just 19 when they teamed up in 2011 and they quickly formed a good rapport, winning silver and bronze at the world championships in Sestriere in Italy.
Having gone one better in front of healthy crowds in Sochi, where a late surge of interest allayed fears that stands would be deserted, Evans said it would take a while to sink in.
“It wasn’t great skiing today but Kelly did her best and luckily for us that was good enough,” she said. “I hope we changed people’s perspective of disability skiing and it feels so good to know that there might be people watching who will consider taking up disability skiing as a result.”
Having completed the course first, the pair faced a nervous wait at the foot of the run as their rivals, including the Slovakian reigning champion Henrieta Farkasova, failed to better their time.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd
