Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games

Results

March 05

Menna Fitzpatrick

Para Alpine Skiing // Women's Downhill Visually Impaired

5th

March 06

Menna Fitzpatrick

Para Alpine Skiing // Women's Super-G Visually Impaired

Silver, 1:18.79 (+1.78)

March 07

Menna Fitzpatrick

Para Alpine Skiing // Women's Super-Combined Visually Impaired

Bronze, 2:05.98 (+2.59)

March 09

Stephen Thomas

Para Nordic Skiing // Men's Sprint Sitting Qualification

2.39 (DNQ)

March 10

Daniel Sheen

Para Alpine Skiing // Men's Giant Slalom Sitting

Run 1: 1:15.28 Run 2: DNF

March 11

Menna Fitzpatrick

Para Alpine Skiing // Women's Giant Slalom Vision Impaired

7th; Run 1: 1:02.78, Run 2: 1:04.89. Total: 2:07.67 (+15.13)

March 12

Daniel Sheen

Para Alpine Skiing // Men's Slalom Sitting

Run 1: 1:04.90, Run 2: DNF

Menna Fitzpatrick

Para Alpine Skiing // Women's Slalom Vision Impaired

4th

Stephen Thomas

Para Nordic Skiing // Men's Middle Distance Sitting

32nd

Welsh Athletes competing at Beijing 2022

Find out more about the Welsh athletes who will be representing ParalympicsGB in China this winter:

Menna Fitzpatrick MBE

Sport

Para Alpine Skiing // B2

Date of Birth

05 / 05 / 1998

From

Macclesfield (Welsh Mother)

Menna’s love of skiing began when she went on a family winter holiday to France when she was five years old.

Despite having only 5% overall vision, she was a naturally talented skier – so much so that in 2010 she was invited to train with the British Para Snow Sports Team, with her father as her guide, after being spotted skiing at the Chill Factore indoor slope in Manchester.

They began racing in the IPCAS races in Landgraaf and finished 4th in their first race.

Menna made her senior international debut for Great Britain in 2012 and in 2016 she and her guide Jennifer Kehoe made history by becoming the first British skiers to win the overall World Cup visually impaired title in Aspen.

In her first season competing at World Cup level, Menna won the Giant Slalom Crystal Globe, silver in the overall Super-G and bronze in the overall Downhill and Slalom events.

At the 2017 World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, Menna secured bronze in the giant slalom and two silver and two bronze medals at the World Cup in Kühtai, Austria, at the beginning of the 2017/18 season.

At the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games, Menna became Britain’s most successful Winter Paralympian as she claimed Slalom gold, Super Combined silver, Giant Slalom silver and Super-G bronze.

In 2019 (aged just 19) Menna won five medals at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships – gold in the Downhill and Super-G, silver in the Combined and Slalom and bronze in the Giant Slalom – becoming the first British skiers to win both Paralympic and World Para titles.

In 2022 Menna won silver in the Super Combined at the World Para Snow Sports Championships in Lillehammer, Norway.

Menna will compete at the Beijing Winter Paralympics with her new guide Katie Guest.

Career Highlights

2022 – World Para Snow Sports Championships (Lillehammer, Norway)

Super Combined: Silver

2019 – World Para Alpine Skiing Championships (Sella Nevea, Italy and Kranjska Gora, Slovenia)

Downhill: Gold
Slalom: Silver
Super Combined: Silver
Giant Slalom: Bronze
Super-G: Gold

2018 –Paralympic Winter Games (Pyeongchang, South Korea)

Slalom: Gold
Super Combined: Silver
Giant Slalom: Silver
Super-G: Bronze

2017 – Para Alpine Skiing World Championships (Tarvisio, Italy)

Giant slalom: Bronze
Super-G: 4th
Slalom: 4th
Downhill: 5th
Super-combined: 5th

2016 – World Cup visually impaired title (Aspen, USA)

Get Involved

If you’re inspired by Menna and interested in finding out more about how to get involved in Para Alpine Skiing, please visit: Snowsport Wales

Disability Sport Wales Development Officers work in every Local Authority in Wales. They can assist in pointing you to opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity near you.

Stephen Thomas

Sport

Para Nordic Skiing // LW12

Date of Birth

05 / 01 / 1977

From

Barry

Having represented Paralympics GB in both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics will be Steve’s sixth Paralympics where he’ll be competing for a medal in the Para Nordic Cross Country skiing events.

Steve was born in the Ogmore Valley and moved to nearby Bridgend when he was ten. He played Under 18’s rugby for Wales before contracting meningococcal septicaemia. Steve was placed in an induced coma for six weeks and underwent lifesaving surgery, resulting in the double amputation below the knees.

Having studied Sport & Exercise Science at the UWIC in Cardiff, a chance meeting at a National Eisteddfod introduced Steve to ice sledge hockey, where he was part of the Paralympics GB team that attempted to qualify for the 2002 Winter Paralympic Games in Utah.

That near miss only made him and the squad more determined and four years later they qualified for the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in Turin; the highlight of which was beating the home nation Italy in the group stages.

By now Steve was combining winter sports with sailing – and in 2006 he become the only athlete to compete in that year’s Summer and Winter Paralympic Games!

Steve ended up winning three Para World Sailing Championships gold medals – in Sønderborg (Denmark) in 2005, Perth (Western Australia) in 2006 and in Melbourne in 2015.

Having represented Paralympics GB in sailing from 2004-2016, and after a distinguished international ice hockey career, Steve came out of a short retirement in 2018 to take up Para Nordic skiing.

He made his international Para Nordic skiing debut at the 2018 World Cup in Vuokatti (Finland) and will now compete at the Beijing Winter Paralympics in the cross-country events.

Career Highlights

2018 – International Para Nordic skiing debut, World Cup (Vuokatti, Finland)

2016 – Paralympics GB sailing team, Summer Paralympic Games (Rio, Brazil)

2015 – Gold, Para World Sailing Championships (Melbourne, Australia)

2012 – Paralympics GB sailing team, Summer Paralympic Games (London)

2012 – Bronze, Para World Sailing Championships (Charlotte Harbour, Florida)

2011 – Silver, Para World Sailing Championships (Weymouth)

2010 – Silver, Para World Sailing Championships (Medemblik, Netherlands)

2008 – Paralympics GB sailing team, Summer Paralympic Games (Beijing, China)

2006 – Paralympics GB ice hockey team, Winter Paralympic Games (Turin, Italy)

2006 – Gold, Para World Sailing Championships (Perth, Australia)

2005 – Gold, Para World Sailing Championships (Sønderborg, Denmark)

2004 – Paralympics GB sailing team, Summer Paralympic Games (Athens, Greece)

2003 – Bronze, Para World Sailing Championships (Athens, Greece)

Get Involved

If you’re inspired by Stephen and interested in finding out more about how to get involved in Para Nordic Skiing, please visit: Snowsport Wales

Disability Sport Wales Development Officers work in every Local Authority in Wales. They can assist in pointing you to opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity near you.

#Inspire

Have you ever thought about what your potential could be in competitive sport?

Are you 9 years old or older with a passion for sport and physical activity, and have either a physical, sensory or intellectual impairment?

If you can answer yes to these questions, then the Disability Sport Wales Performance Pathway team would like to hear from you.

Disability Sport Wales has prided itself on its success at major disability sporting events, winning more medals per capita than any other nation. We want this success to continue, but this can only happen by continuously finding the next generation of talented athletes and nurturing them into reaching their full potential. The Performance Pathway Hub is here is to provide an environment for individuals to learn, grow and develop, to help individuals to identify a sport to participate in and progress in competitive sport, and to give athletes the best possible chance of success at a World, Paralympic or Commonwealth Games. If you are interested in what the Performance Pathway Hub can offer you, please fill in the form below.

Not everyone with an impairment will have what it takes to become a world class athlete, but everyone should at least get the opportunity to try.

Disability Sport Wales wants to hear from every individual who is looking to find out what their potential could be within competitive sport, even if you have never done sport before or you’re looking at transferring to a new one.

Complete the #Inspire form