The World Championships is the most significant competition in the para-alpine skiing calendar ahead of the Paralympic Winter Games in 2018.

The athletes were selected based on performance criteria to ensure the greatest chance of medal success having delivered significant elite performances at European or World Cup level. The athletes selected are as follows:

Visually impaired class:

Kelly Gallagher MBE and Gary Smith (Guide)

Millie Knight and Brett Wild (Guide)

Menna Fitzpatrick and Jennifer Kehoe (Guide)

Standing class:

James Whitley

Chris Lloyd

Matt Short

Withdrawal from competition

Following team selection British Parasnowsport are announcing that athletes Kelly Gallagher MBE and Chris Lloyd have withdrawn from competition following injury during training. Kelly sustained injury whilst training for the Downhill having dislocated her elbow and fractured 3 ribs, Kelly is receiving the best possible medical attention and will return to the UK to begin rehabilitation shortly.

Chris Lloyd sustained injury whilst training for the Super Giant Slalom having damaged his medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee. Chris received immediate hospital treatment and has already returned back to the UK to begin rehabilitation.

British Parasnowsport Team is the British national para-alpine ski and para-snowboard team. Disability Snowsport UK manages British Parasnowsport and is recognised as the UK National Governing Body for disabled snowsports by the British Paralympic Association (BPA) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The team is split into two squads - the Elite Team, training and competing on a full-time basis and the Development Squads – Adult and Youth - where the athletes work on a part-time basis. More details on all our athletes and coaches can be found below.

Our athletes

•    Visually impaired athletes ski with a sighted guide at speeds of up to 75mph using bluetooth headsets through which the guide provides verbal commands describing terrain, combinations and course

•    Visually impaired athletes must be registered blind in the UK to meet the minimum classification criteria for international competition. There are 3 visually impaired sport classes B1, B2 and B3

•    All of our visually impaired skiers in the WCH team have a B2 classification

•    Kelly Gallagher MBE secured Great Britain’s first ever Winter Paralympic Gold in the speed discipline of Super Giant Slalom at the Sochi Winter Games in 2014. Kelly also secured podium places in the World Championships in 2011 and 2013

•    Millie Knight is Britain’s youngest ever winter Paralympian, came 5th in slalom at the Sochi Winter Games and secured Britain’s first ever World Cup win in 2015 followed by a second World Cup Win in 2016, Millie is being touted as a favourite for the World Championships

•    Menna Fitzpatrick won the overall World Cup in 2016 - another first for Great Britain amidst a season of success

•    The standing class has 9 sport classes with LW1-4 for athletes with impairments affecting their legs including amputation and LW 5-9 for athletes with impairments affecting their hands and arms

•    James Whitley has impairments affecting both arms and competes in sport class LW5

•    Matt Short has a lower limb impairment and competes in sport class LW4

•    Classification is conducted by international medical experts and athletes are only classified if they meet the level of impairment required and the impairment has sufficient impact on their ability to participate in the sport

•    Each sport class assigns a specific factor which is applied to the athletes raw time and results in a ‘factored’ time thus making all athletes times are comparable

The Para-Alpine World Championships

The Para-Alpine World Championships 2017 are being held in Tarvisio, Italy between 23-31 January competition will include all of the para-alpine disciplines including speed and technical events. The dates for each event are as follows:

•    Downhill (speed) 25 January

•    Super Giant Slalom (speed) 26 January

•    Super Combined (1 speed run of SG, 1 technical run of slalom) 27 January

•    Slalom (technical) 30 January

•    Giant Slalom (technical) 31 January

Contact

British Parasnowsport will be producing daily updates on races and results if you would like to receive updates, find out more or to request athlete interviews or comment please contact.