Millie Knight on why she almost retired ahead of third Winter Paralympic Games

Millie Knight battled back from fearing she’d never ski again to securing her place at a third Winter Paralympic Games.

Knight, 23, became the youngest athlete to represent ParalympicsGB at a Winter Games in Sochi aged 15 before her hat-trick of alpine skiing medals – two silver, one bronze – in PyeongChang saw her emerge as one of the faces of the British team.

Those thrilling Korean heroics looked to lay the foundations for a medal-bulging Paralympic career but a series of concussions since – including one serious incident in Leogang, Austria, last February – have derailed her preparations for Beijing.

The Kent speedster admits she may never be able to banish from those demons and says flying the British flag at a third Games marks the most emotional one yet.

“It’s amazing considering the struggles, injuries and challenges that we’ve had. I’m pretty proud,” said Knight, one of over 1,000 athletes able to train full-time, access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support thanks to vital National Lottery funding.

“It’s taken a lot of determination – I still can’t really believe that I’m sat here going to my third Games considering the place where my head was in half a year ago.

“I genuinely thought: how can I even put skis back on, how can I do it when I know I’ve got so much fear these days?

“There were lots of times during the recovery when I questioned whether I was going to recover properly.

“Would I get back to 100 per cent Millie the athlete, and even Millie the person? Am I going to get back to the level that I was at? Am I going to be way behind?

“I still don’t think I’m the same skier as I was in 2017 and 2018. After the crashes, I think a switch changed in my