22 January 2020

Blind Paralympic skier Millie Knight ends two year World Cup medal drought in style taking bronze and gold in Slovenia

British visually impaired skier Millie Knight has ended a two-year run without a World Cup medal in style, taking a bronze in giant slalom and, less than 24 hours later, backing it up with a gold.

21-year-old Knight, who skis accompanied by her guide Brett Wild, said: "I’m absolutely bubbling. I’m so pleased. It’s been a very long time because I had a major crash in 2017. It took two years to really recover from it.

"Today I'm speechless. I'm over the moon," she added, after her success at the para alpine skiing event.

Millie suffered a major crash in 2017 leaving her with a severe concussion that almost ended her Olympic dream. 

Determined to compete at PyeongChang in 2018, she took a risk by not giving herself enough time to recover and surprised herself and her coaches by winning a silver in the downhill and a bronze in the slalom.

After the games she took some time away from competition in an attempt to recover fully. During this time, she continued to train but did not take part in any events.

“I never really rested from my concussion and my crash because it was the Games year. I never had that time to fully recover, so last season I thought, I’m going to just train. Races weren’t my focus at that point,” said Knight. 

She returned to competition in January but her hopes of reaching a podium were dashed when long-time guide Brett Wild fell ill and couldn't ski with her at the World Cup opener in Veysonnaz. Despite a reserve stepping in, the chemistry was not the same and the pair did not medal.

This week the pair returned to the podium after two strong runs in the giant slalom put them in third place while Austria's Aigner sisters, Veronika and Elisabeth, took top spot followed by Noemi Ristau and Paula Brenzel from Germany.

Knight and Wild then solidified their successful return taking gold in the Giant Slalom on Tuesday. Fellow Brits Menna Fitzpatrick and Gary Smith were also on the podium, finishing third while Ristau and Brenzel claimed a second silver.

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