Winter Paralympics 2014: Kelly Gallagher and Charlotte Evans make history with Great Britain's first ever gold medal

Visually-impaired skier Gallagher and guide Evans bounced back from downhill disappointment to win gold in the super-G

Mark Staniforth
Monday 10 March 2014 09:09 GMT
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Kelly Gallagher (L) and Charlotte Evans (R) on their way to gold in the Winter Paralympics super-G
Kelly Gallagher (L) and Charlotte Evans (R) on their way to gold in the Winter Paralympics super-G

Almost one month to the day after Jenny Jones claimed Great Britain’s first Olympic medal on snow, the Northern Ireland skier Kelly Gallagher has gone one better at the Winter Paralympics in Sochi.

Gallagher’s gold medal along with guide Charlotte Evans in the visually impaired super-g yesterday represents the first time a Briton has topped the podium in a snowsport event in either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

And coupled with the success of team-mate Jade Etherington in taking bronze in the same event to add to her earlier silver in the women’s downhill, it showed how far Great Britain has come as a Winter Paralympic nation.

“It was nerve-wracking but I’m delighted with the result,” Gallagher, from Bangor in County Down, told BBC Sport afterwards.

“Normally when we compete, even in big events like World Championships, nobody is interested. But here there has been a lot of hype and pressure, as well as expectation, and maybe we let some of that in.”

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