British athletes brought home six medals from Beijing four years ago while Team GB’s Olympic performances in recent weeks have blazed a trail Chef de Mission Phil Smith hopes the Paralympic squad can follow.
British Paralympians are ready to ride the crest of a winter sports wave and inspire a new generation of disabled athletes to get active.
That’s the plan for ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission Phil Smith, who has backed the 25-strong British squad to deliver ‘inspiring and inspirational’ performances in Cortina.
British athletes brought home six medals from Beijing four years ago while Team GB’s Olympic performances in recent weeks have blazed a trail Smith hopes the Paralympic squad can follow.
“We have a really exciting team here,” he said. “We are in a similar position to where we were in Beijing going into the Games, every sport we are represented in has medal hopes in it.
“We have athletes who have been on the podium in every sport across this cycle and that is a really exciting place to be.
“We have had some challenges with injuries but we are coming in now with everybody fit, everybody firing, and it’s a really exciting place to be.
“We all watched Team GB at the Olympics, everyone is excited by the success they had and what a fantastic Games that was, and now we can go and continue to ride that wave and hopefully put in some really special performances.”
Cancer survivor Jo Butterfield, who is bidding to become the first Brit to medal at a summer and winter Paralympics, gets ParalympicsGB’s campaign underway alongside Jason Kean in the wheelchair curling mixed doubles against Estonia on Wednesday night.
Butterfield’s is just one of many inspiring stories among the squad who recently arrived in the Dolomites, with former paratrooper Scott Meenagh and ParalympicsGB’s most decorated winter athlete, Menna Fitzpatrick, named as flagbearers for Friday’s opening ceremony.
ParalympicsGB partner Every Body Moves provide ways to become active for disabled people across the UK and Smith hopes the squad’s exploits can act as a participation springboard.
“The last summer Games in Paris were in a similar time zone and we know the impact that had in terms of people’s ability to watch and come and support face-to-face,” he said.
“We have that evidence across multiple Games that when Paralympic sport is visible to people, it does bring people through, it does make people get up and go and try something different and hopefully provides that pipeline of new athletes for the future.
“This is about as close to a home Games as we’ll ever get for a Winter Paralympics and that is really exciting. We know people at home can watch this and the last ones (in PyeongChang and Beijing) have been harder to engage with.
“We are also expecting plenty of British flags in stadia, which is just a fantastic place to be.”
Discover Every Body Moves powered by Toyota, ParalympicsGB’s inclusive activity finder. Empowering disabled people to find ways to become more active locally or at home and inviting providers to promote more inclusive sessions across the UK. Find out more at everybodymoves.org.uk.