Life changing

How Millie and Brett are making their mark in PyeongChang

Team GB have had the most successful Winter Olympics ever and now it's time for our Paralympians to take centre stage in PyeongChang. As a National Lottery player, you have helped to build and develop disability sports, athletes and facilities through funding, from grassroots clubs through to our elite athletes hitting the snow and ice at the Paralympic Games.

Millie Knight and her guide Brett Wild are just two of these incredible athletes. Already securing two silver medals for GB at the start of the Paralympic Games, we introduce you to this outstanding young skier and her remarkable guide.

Meet Millie

Millie Knight first tried alpine skiing in 2006 while on holiday in France, just as her vision started to deteriorate. She was encouraged by her Mum, who acted as her guide once Millie joined the British Disabled Ski Team Development Squad in November 2012.

At aged 15, Millie made her Paralympic debut at Sochi 2014, becoming ParalympicsGB’s youngest ever competitor at any Winter Paralympics and was also chosen to carry the flag for Great Britain at the Opening Ceremony. This experience will be a huge benefit as she heads to the latest Games, “I feel very lucky to be in this position with a Games already under my belt, having that experience and that knowledge about what it’s going to be like. To be implementing that into this cycle is invaluable.”

“I feel very lucky to be in this position with a Games already under my belt.”

At Sochi she raced in the technical events (the slalom and the giant slalom) guided by Rachael Ferrier, ranking fifth in both. Since the last Paralympics, Millie’s career has gone from strength to strength, thriving in the speed events and improving her performance in the technical events too.

Bringing in Brett

Now racing with Brett Wild, a Royal Navy submariner. Brett was released for two years to allow him to compete and shares how he and Millie connected immediately, “We got on straight away, Millie asked me to go over to Aspen for World Cup finals, and at that point the Navy had given me four weeks off before going back to work. Then we came back with three gold medals and that convinced them to release me for two years.”

“I’d only been used to getting yourself down the hill as fast as possible.”

But it wasn’t always plain sailing, as Brett explains, “Millie and I had a week in Austria, it was white-out and it was really, really hard to guide, I’d only been used to getting yourself down the hill as fast as possible, but I thought to just ask as many questions as I could to learn as fast as possible,” he said.

Since then the pair have struck up a world-conquering partnership, winning the 2017 World Cup Globe in the giant slalom, super-G and downhill and the World Championships in Tarvisio. They’ve now added two silver medals to that tally at the Winter Paralympics, with more events to come the pair are on track for an incredible Games.

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