Visually impaired skier Millie Knight puts crashes, concussions in rearview mirror to win Paralympic bronze

British para alpine skier Millie Knight came into her third Paralympic Games not expecting to win a single medal despite capturing three in 2018 and arriving in Beijing as the reigning World Cup Super-G title holder.

But she proved herself wrong on Saturday, teaming with guide Brett Wild to collect Great Britain’s first medal of the Games with a bronze in the women’s visually impaired downhill at Yanqing National Alpine Center. Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova won her third consecutive gold medal in the event with a time of 1:19.50, while China’s Zhu Daqing took silver with a time of 1:21.75 in her Paralympic debut.

“I still can’t believe it! We genuinely believed we wouldn’t win any medals at these Games…what a crazy moment this is!” wrote Knight in an Instagram post on Saturday, hinting at the struggles and injuries that affected not only her body but also her psyche since the last Paralympics.

A post shared by Millie Knight (@knight_millie)

“This bronze is something very special,” Knight told media after the race. “It ranks above our silver four years ago in PyeongChang. We have gone through some tough things, and it has changed us.”

The 23-year-old Knight has suffered multiple concussions over the last five years beginning with back-to-back crashes in the finish area at the 2017 World Championships and four weeks later at a World Cup downhill in PyeongChang. Both times, she crossed the finish line at full speed, smacking into the barriers. But her crash in South Korea was the most severe, flipping her three times and dislocating her jaw.

Despite winning two silver medals (downhill, super-G) and a bronze (slalom) at the 2018 Paralympics, she admitted the injuries affected her performance there. She took a break from