Well, that was amazing! I genuinely, really enjoyed every moment at these Games; I think they were the best Paralympics I’ve been to. Like I’ve said many times, we had no expectations of medals going into Beijing, so the pressure was off, which meant I could truly appreciate everything and allowed me to relax a little!
On day one, I had a little (tiny and pathetic) crash, which hurt my knee quite a lot, but I didn’t say anything as I was worried this would prevent me from racing!
We had one training day, then straight into Official Downhill Training; for those that don’t know, everything about this is a race bar receiving medals. So it was essential that use this opportunity wisely. We kept coming 4th, which we knew would be heartbreaking. The downhill race was brilliant; we skied our socks off and managed a surreal and unbelievable Bronze medal. This was the most incredible feeling; to come away with a medal in the event that scared me the most was very special. The SuperG was tough, it’s one of our strongest disciplines, but we didn’t do enough and came 4th – devastating. Super Combined was similar; we didn’t give ourselves enough of a buffer in the first run going into the slalom. 4th again, but we were delighted with how we skied.
The pressure was off now; we had done our strongest events with only Slalom and Giant Slalom to come. We had a blast these last two races! By this point, my knee was very sore, but I had to keep pushing as the last race was very important, as it was my last ever with Brett. Brett announced his retirement from Para-Alpine Skiing, as he is returning to The Royal Navy for Officer Training. I will miss him sorely. I will now have to find a guide with some huge boots to fill!
Having had no medal expectation, to come away with a bronze is something that I am incredibly proud of!
For now, I’m having a lovely bit of downtime and waiting on my MRI results for my knee.
Thank you so so much to everyone who has supported Brett and me, especially to those who stayed up to watch our races at crazy times of the night!
