First ever Winter Paralympics gold marks ‘historic day’ for disability skiing in the UK

Paralympic athlete Kelly Gallagher has won Great Britain’s first ever gold medal in the women’s visually impaired Super-G event during day three of the Sochi Winter Paralympics.

Ms Gallagher has a condition called oculocutaneous albinism, affecting the pigments in her hair, skin and eyes, and has been skiing since she was 17.

She has now become the first athlete to win gold on snow in both the Olympic or Paralympic Winter Games for team GB.

Ms Gallagher said: “I'm so delighted to be part of such a unique and historical moment for British Paralympic sport and I can't wait to see more disabled skiers out on the mountain now.

“It's been a difficult journey here and we are so happy to have had so much support from the very start. Today has proven to me that hard work and self-belief really does pay-off.

“I'm delighted, it is so good to have such a great reward for all my and Charlotte's hard work. I couldn't have done it without Charlotte's constant determination and talent. She's a star!”

The athlete reached speeds of up to 100km/h when skiing down the course and used a Bluetooth headset to communicate with her guide Charlotte Evans, who she has been working with since 2010.

Ms Evans said: “It hasn't sunk in yet, and I think it's going to take a while to! All I know is it feels great and I couldn't ask for more. I'm proud to be representing my country and I'm so proud to be Kelly's guide.

“It wasn't great skiing today but Kelly did her best and luckily for us that was good enough.”

Fellow Paralympian, Tim Farr has praised their victory and said it will provide a big boost to the sport. Mr Farr was a teammate of Ms Gallagher’s at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and is now also part of Channel 4's Sochi coverage.

Mr Farr told channel 4: “This result is huge. With gold and three medals in total for us in the skiing, there should definitely be an increase in UK Sport funding.

“Hopefully a lot of people will now sit up and take notice of the sport and we’ll see an increase in both interest and the numbers taking part.”

After finishing last in the downhill event on day one, Ms Gallagher faced the disadvantage of coming out first for the second race, but was able to set a time of 1:28.72 that was never beaten.

Mr Farr continued: “Kelly was out first and that's definitely a disadvantage.

“First of all you don’t have feedback from other skiers about the course. And secondly you don’t have a time to chase.

“Because of that, there’s a risk that you just go for the finish, rather than really chasing a time and going fast. But Kelly is a really strong character.”

Performance director and chef de mission Penny Briscoe for the British team for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games said: “This is an historic day - not just Paralympics GB's first gold in the Winter Games but our first gold on snow in either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

“Kelly and Charlotte proved what world class athletes they are to come back after the disappointment of the Downhill and are absolutely buzzing now. I could not be prouder of the team.”

As well as Ms Gallagher’s Gold, Jade Etherington was able to secure the bronze medal in the same event, despite a collision with a gate just after the halfway point of the race.

Ms Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell finished with a time of 1:29.76 which meant they were able to beat the defending Paralympic champion to secure the bronze medal.

Ms Etherington said: “After the run that we had I'm really happy. I had a little wobble off the lake jump and hit a gate, so I'm happy to have a medal after that mistake.”

Ms Powell added: “We're very proud of Kelly and Charlotte for their gold, they were awesome.”

Great Britain has now exceeded their UK sport target of ‘at least two medals’ as day three’s Gold and Bronze are added to the Silver achieved by Ms Etherington on day one of the Winter Paralympics in the Visually Impaired Women's Downhill event.

The Silver achieved one day one of the games by Ms Etherington made her Britain's first ever female alpine skiing Paralympic medalist.