Great Britain at the 2018 Winter Paralympics

British participation at the 2018 Winter Paralympics

Great Britain sent people to compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The team has people in para-snowboarding, para-alpine skiing and wheelchair curling. People are from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland Unlike football and some other sports, citizens from these countries are part of the same team at the Olympics and Paralympics. The competition was also broadcast on television on Channel 4.

The first team announcement for Great Britain was made on 15 January 2018.[1] The full team for Great Britain was made on 15 February 2018.[1] Scott Meenagh has been selected to compete in both the biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions.[2]

The table below contains the list of members of people (called "Team GB") that will be participating in the 2018 Games.

Team GB
Name Sport Gender Classification Events ref
James Barnes-Miller para-snowboarding male SB-UL Banked Slalom, SBX) [1]
Gregor Ewan wheelchair curling male mixed team [1]
Menna Fitzpatrick para-alpine skiing female B3 Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill [1][3]
Kelly Gallagher para-alpine skiing female B3 [1][3][4]
Jennifer Kehoe para-alpine skiing female guide skier Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill [1]
Millie Knight para-alpine skiing female B2 Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill [1][3]
Chris Lloyd para-alpine skiing male Giant Slalom, Slalom, Super-G, Downhill [1]
Angie Malone wheelchair curling female wheelchair curling open class mixed team [1][5][6]
Robert McPherson wheelchair curling male mixed team [1]
Scott Meenagh para-Nordic skiing male [7]
Ben Moore para-snowboarding male SB-UL Banked Slalom, SBX [1]
Aileen Neilson wheelchair curling female mixed team [1]
Hugh Nibloe wheelchair curling male mixed team [1]
Owen Pick para-snowboarding male SB-LL2 Banked Slalom, SBX [1]
James Whitley para-alpine skiing male LW5/7.3 Slalom, Giant Slalom [1][3][8]
Brett Wild para-alpine skiing male guide skier Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill [1]

Great Britain will send a total of 17 athletes to the games. This is the most sent by the British team since 2006.[2]

Sport Men Women Total
Alpine skiing 4 4 8
Biathlon 1 0 1
Cross-country skiing 1 0 1
Snowboarding 3 0 3
Wheelchair curling 3 2 5
Total 11 6 17

History

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Many times, Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland compete as separate countries at sports events around the world. Because of the past, these four countries compete as one country at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Some Crown dependencies and some British Overseas Territories also are part of Great Britain for these sporting events. People in Northern Ireland do not like the name because it does not include them.[9][10]

Before the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics, people from Great Britain had won more medals in the Winter Paralympics than the Winter Olympics.[11] People won one bronze medal at the Winter Olympics.[11] People won over five medals in the Winter Paralympics.[11]

Para-alpine skiing

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Skiers

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Mille Knight became blind when she was a 6-year-old.[11] In 2017, she finished her A Levels.[11] That year, she also won seven gold medals at IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup races.[11] Kelly Gallagher is blind. She skis with her guide skier Charlotte Evans. They went to the 2014 Winter Paralympics. Gallagher and Evans won a gold medal in the Super-G.[11] Gallagher wanted to win more medals in South Korea.[11]

Schedule and training

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Skiers had training runs for the downhill race on 7 March.[12] Their practice runs in the downhill on 8 and 9 March were cancelled.[13][14]

The first event on the para-alpine program was the downhill. It started on 10 March, running from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. The second event on the program is Super-G. All skiers raced between 9:30 AM and 1:00 PM on 11 March. The super combined takes place on 13 March. The Super-G part of the event is in the morning. The slalom part is in the afternoon. The slalom event gets underway on 14 March and conclude on 15 March. Women and men both race during the same sessions in the morning. The afternoon sessions start with the women doing their second run. Then the men go.The last para-alpine skiing race of the 2018 Games is the giant slalom. It takes place on 17 - 18 March.  Men and women both race at the same time in the morning sessions.  Women race first in the afternoon sessions, with the men racing a half hour after they end.[15]

Results

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B2 classified skier Millie Knight won silver in women's downhill vision impaired race.[16] In the women's Super-G visually impaired race, Henrieta Farkasova of Slovakia won gold, Millie Knight of Great Britain won silver and Menna Fitzpatrick won bronze.[17]

Athlete Classification Event Run 1 Run 2 Final/Total
Time Diff Rank Time Diff Rank Time Diff Rank
Kelly Gallagher

Guide: Gary Smith

Visually impaired Giant Slalom
Slalom
1:39.75 +9.58 8
Super Combined
Menna Fitzpatrick

Guide: Jennifer Kehoe

Visually impaired DNF
Giant Slalom
Slalom
1:34.54 +4.37  
Super Combined
Millie Knight

Guide: Brett Wild

Visually impaired 1:30.58 +0.86  
Giant Slalom
Slalom
1:33.76 +3.59  
Super Combined
Men
Athlete Classification Event Run 1 Run 2 Final/Total
Time Diff Rank Time Diff Rank Time Diff Rank
Chris Lloyd Standing 1:34.00 +8.55 20
James Whitley Standing 1:29.85 +4.40 10
Giant Slalom
Slalom
Super Combined

Para-Nordic skiing

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Skiers

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Great Britain is not a country where people with disabilities do para-Nordic skiing. Scott Meenagh was the first para-Nordic skier to go to the Winter Paralympics in 28 years.[7] Meenagh was a service member in Afghanistan. After an attack, he lost both of his legs.[7] After his injuries, he tried para-athletics and adaptive rowing.[7] In March 2016, he first tried para-Nordic skiing.[7]

Schedule and results

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On 12 March, the 15 km race takes place, with standing and vision impaired women starting at 10:00 PM. Thee sprint classic qualification takes place on 14 March from 10:00 AM – 11:25 AM for both men and women in all classes. It is followed in the afternoon by the semifinals and finals.  The classic race takes place on 17 March. The standing and visually impaired women's race takes place from 10:00 AM - 12:30.[15]

Biathlon

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Athlete Classification Event Result Rank
Scott Meenagh Sitting Men's 7.5 km 27:28.1 18
Men's 12.5 km
Men's 15 km

Cross country skiing

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Athlete Classification Event Qualification Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Scott Meenagh Sitting Men's 1.1 km sprint
Men's 7.5 km|colspan="4" data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | —
Men's 15 km|colspan="4" data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | — 46:07.4 17

Para-snowboarding

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Results

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Men
Athlete Classification Event Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
James Barnes-Miller SB-UL Men's snowboard cross
Men's banked slalom
Ben Moore SB-UL Men's snowboard cross
Men's banked slalom
Owen Pick SB-LL2 Men's snowboard cross
Men's banked slalom

Wheelchair curling

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The team starts playing on 10 March. They play against Sweden on 12 March.[18]

Media coverage

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Some media for the 2018 Games in the UK is on the BBC Sport website and app and on BBC Radio 5 live.[1] The competition was also broadcast on television on Channel 4.[11]

References

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  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 "Winter Paralympics: Great Britain's team for Pyeongchang". BBC Sport. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Winter Paralympics: Great Britain's team for Pyeongchang". 24 February 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "World Rankings - Alpine Skiing". www.paralympic.org. Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  4. "World Para Alpine Skiing - Classification - Classification Masterlist". www.paralympic.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  5. http://results.worldcurling.org/Record/Appearances/28 World Curling
  6. "Capital Wheelchair curling" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Winter Paralympics 2018: Scott Meenagh seals place in Nordic skiing events". BBC Sport. 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  8. "IPC results".
  9. "Graeme McDowell: Ireland Olympics situation difficult". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  10. "Team GB Olympic name row still simmering in Northern Ireland". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 "The Complete Guide to the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, Pyeongchang, South Korea | InTheSnow". InTheSnow. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  12. "Alpine Skiing". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  13. "Alpine Skiing: 8 March". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  14. "Alpine Skiing: 9 March". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Programm". Austrian Paralympic Committee (in German). 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  16. "Daily Schedule - Sat, 10 Mar". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  17. "Alpine Skiing Live Results: 11 March". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  18. "Så sänder SVT Paralympics 2018 - Sport | SVT.se". SVT Sport (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-02-16.