Today, British Parasnowsport visually impaired athlete Millie Knight and her Guide Brett Wild took Gold at the Para-Alpine World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy. In a first for Great Britain, Knight secured a stunning World Championship victory on day one of the speed disciplines with a time of 1.13.42 – over a full second ahead of nearest competitor Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova in the women’s visually impaired downhill. Millie’s speed topped out at over 112kph or 70mph an incredible feat and a truly world class performance for a blind athlete.
Women’s visually impaired ski racer Menna Fitzpatrick took fifth with a time of 1.30.54 Guided by Jennifer Kehoe.
James Whitley competing in the men’s standing sport class came twelfth overall putting down a time of 1.15.68 missing out on a top ten finish by little over 3/10th of a second.
Speaking after her gold-winning run Millie said: ‘I’m really chuffed with today’s performance, the snow was amazing and so was my Guide Brett! A huge thanks to The National Lottery for supporting me as well!’
Millie’s Guide, Royal Navy Submariner Brett Wild commented: ‘I wouldn’t be here without tremendous support from The National Lottery and The Royal Navy, Royal Marines Charity for enabling me to ski with Millie. We came into this competition confident from our world cup successes, we knew the speed disciplines are a real strength for us but today’s performance has been truly brilliant and has delivered vital international results for Great Britain.’
Duncan Freshwater Performance Director of British Parasnowsport added: ‘All our athletes have delivered world-class results today, Millie and Brett’s Gold is truly outstanding and a first for elite para-alpine skiing in the UK, I’m delighted that we are delivering results for our partners at UK Sport and I’m grateful to The National Lottery for their continued investment.’
