Ⓒ and thanks to @ParalympicsGB
Beijing 2022 was a brilliant Paralympic Winter Games for Great Britain with the team’s six medals achieved over a record number of events – four – in China.
The ParalympicsGB women excelled as part of that history-making team, with vision impaired Menna Fitzpatrick and Millie Knight claiming half of the honours between them.
“ParalympicsGB are once again returning with an impressive set of medals,” stated Chair of UK Sport and five-time Olympic medallist Dame Katherine Grainger.
“That’s a positive sign of developing consistency and helps our wider aim for winter sports to become an ever-greater force in British sport.”
Away from the podium placing athletes landmark appearances were also made by Shona Brownlee (sitting skiing) and Hope Gordon (cross-country skiing), who were the first British women to compete in their respective sports at a Paralympic Games.
Ex-track athlete turned wheelchair curling star Meggan Dawson-Farrell also demonstrated her undoubted talent in her Paralympic debut.
Here the Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA) assess their performances and hopes for the next four-year Paralympic cycle leading into the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games in Italy.
Menna Fitzpatrick – vision impaired skiing:
Menna Fitzpatrick became only the second British athlete to win a Paralympic Winter Games gold medal with her shock slalom victory at the PyeongChang 2018 Games, but her preparations for Beijing 2022 were hit by problems with her guide.
Long-term partner Jen K retired after GB Snowsport indicated they were looking to change the line-up, but her replacement Katie Guest then tested positive for Covid-19 just before the Games. Fitzpatrick was paired with Gary Smtih – who partnered former champion skier Kelly Gallagher four years ago.
Despite the challenges and lack of preparation time together the pair achieved silver (Super-G) and bronze (Super Combined) medals in China and in doing so Fitzpatrick took her career total to six – making her Great Britain’s most decorated Winter Paralympian of all-time.
“It’s very special because I’ve had a really tough few years, with swapping guides and injuries, and the whole Covid pandemic, and not being able to train,” she says.
"To be here at all is a great achievement, but then to stand up on that podium is absolutely amazing. I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together.”
Fitzpatrick could yet extend her record medal haul further come the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Italy, with the 23-year-old keen to continue in the sport.
“We are definitely going to try,” she says. “The competition got a lot stronger (in Beijing), but we are going to get in the gym and get some good training in the next four years and let’s see what happens.”
Millie Knight – vision impaired skiing:
At 15, Millie Knight became Britain’s youngest-ever Winter Paralympian during the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and she claimed a historic World championship downhill gold in 2017.
However, that maiden global title also marked another unwanted first, as she sustained a major concussion after colliding with advertising hoardings after crossing the finish line.
At one stage that threatened her participation at PyeongChang 2018, but incredibly she not only battled back for the Games, but went on to claim three honours in South Korea.
Further injury and concussion struggles have followed though and although there were two frustrating fourth-place finishes for the 23-year-old at Beijing 2022, securing third in the downhill was a stunning achievement given the challenges she has faced.
"It is the best bronze we've ever had in our lives,” she said. “It was just so emotional because he last couple years have been so, so tough.
"The concussions were awful. I'd much rather lose more sight than go through a concussion again. The recovery was so slow and so painful, and it knocked so much of my confidence, and I just had so much fear that I'd never be able to just stand in the start again.”
Knight, who has also begun training in judo and could yet launch a bid for the Paris 2024 summer Games, will need a new partner if she is to ski at the 2026 Games with long-term guide Brett Wild announcing his retirement following conclusion of Beijing 2022.
Shona Brownlee – sitting skiing:
Shona Brownlee was a musician in the Royal Air Force when she injured her right leg during a training exercise in 2012. She developing complex regional pain syndrome and after years of struggles opted to have it amputated in 2018.
As part of her rehabilitation she was introduced to Para Alpine Skiing and after rapid improvements over the last 12-18 months she became the first British woman to compete in a sitting skiing category at a Paralympic Winter Games.
“After my injury I was constantly being told all the things I couldn’t do,” she recalls. “When I got into skiing, everything just flipped. It was, here are all the things you can do.
“I didn’t get where I am by giving up. If you keep going, you will get there in the end. It may take me a little longer, or I might take a more indirect route, but I will.”
Brownlee achieved two top-10 results at Beijing 2022 and despite being 42 she is determined to continue and target the next Games in 2026.
“I may be at the upper end of the age bracket at the minute, but I feel like I am just getting started,” she stated. “This is not the end for me, this is just the beginning of my journey.”
The 42-year-old’s Paralympic journey could make for a movie script. She hopes to give it a Hollywood ending at Milano-Cortina in 2026.
Hope Gordon – cross-country skiing:
The WSA profiled Hope Gordon shortly after she won two World para canoeing silver medal in September last year, which was just months after she was a ParalympicsGB reserve for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
The following week, it transpires, she was asked if she would like to try Nordic skiing by friend – and PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympian – Scott Meenagh.
Her international debut followed in December her result in Canada was enough to secured a berth in the sport for Great Britain at the Beijing 2022 Games.
"I fell over three times, I had one crash and I broke a ski my first time on snow, but it was amazing," the 27-year-old said.
"I've always found a lot of freedom in water, which is why I've loved swimming and canoeing. Sometimes it's quite restrictive to get around on land when you have to use mobility aids to get from A to B. With skiing, it was another big sense of freedom.
"And snow is actually all right to fall on. You just kind of bounce and get back up again."
"It has been a very quick, short, crazy journey and I never thought I'd be at a Winter Games at this point in my skiing journey.
"That is going to make me a better athlete for, hopefully, future Paralympics.”
Meggan Dawson-Farrell – wheelchair curling:
As WSA documented ahead of the Paralympics, Meggan Dawson-Farrell never took part in sport as a child because teachers and support staff at her schools thought her disability made her incapable of physical activity.
Once given the opportunity by Scottish Disability Sport however she has excelled, competing on the track at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games before switching to wheelchair curling and making her Paralympic debut at Beijing 2022.
While the team were left disappointed after failing to reach the knock-out stages, Dawson-Farrell – who was the only British woman in the mixed team – played in all of their fixtures and impressed.
“I love the team dynamics, being part of the team,” she said. “With Para athletics I was always on my own, and everything was all down to me. Whereas in a team sport, you can rely on people for certain things. You have good days and bad days, there’s always that team there just for you.”
The 29-year-old is keen push on for the 2026 Games and aims to change try and help change perceptions in the years ahead.
“I think people see curling as an older-person sport, but it shouldn't be," she says.
“I hope that being one of the younger ones in curling will hopefully inspire younger people to come into this sport and give it a try. Because age is just a number. You can give it a go at any age.”
Check out Channel 4 Sport on YouTube for Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games highlights!