#ScotsonParaGB

Day three of the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games provided a much need rest for the Scottish snowsports athletes in PyeongChang. However, the ParalympicsGB wheelchair curlers were back on the ice for back to back matches against Sweden and reigning Paralympic champions Canada.

Wheelchair Curling

Having secured wins against Norway and Finland and suffered a single defeat to Switzerland, the Great Britain rink of Ailien Neilson, Gregor Ewan, Robert McPherson, Hugh Nibloe and Angie Malone MBE knew that two wins on day three of the Games would keep them well in contention for the coveted top four finish in the round robin stage.

It was the best possible start to the day for the ParalympicsGB team as they took two in the first end against Sweden and singles in the next four ends to race into a commanding lead. It proved too much for the Swedish rink who couldn’t recover and Great Britain ran out comfortable winners by 6-1.

They knew that their next match against Canada would be a much sterner test and both teams took to the ice with an identical round robin record of three wins and one defeat.

Brimming with confidence from their win against Sweden, Neilson’s rink made the best possible start and raced into a five shot lead after five ends. Canada rallied to take a single shot with the hammer in the sixth end but Great Britain stormed back to take three in the 7^th end and win the match by 8-1.

This result left Great Britain second in the round robin table equal with Germany and South Korea with four wins and a single defeat after three days of competition. China head the table with an unbeaten record.

A delighted Aileen Neilson commented;

“It’s been a good day at the office, you can’t ask for much more than two victories so we’re really delighted. We’re now at 4-1 which is a really good position to be in. We’re just getting the feel for it more and more, each day we’re reading the ice better, playing the shot better and things are working out, we just want to keep making sure we build on that.

“Any team, if they go out there and play at their best, is going to win the match – we did that against Canada, we played good shots at crucial times and it got us the win.

“We did keep it tight to begin with and that was deliberate, we wanted to see how the ice played, keep as few stones in play as possible and make sure we’re looking after the house.

“You can look at the margin of victory and see it as a lot but it’s not something we focus on too much, this competition is just about getting the wins and making sure we’re taking the performances forward.

“You can learn from losses but we want to be in a position where we’re playing well and winning the game, there is a lot of momentum you can take forward.”

The action continues tomorrow with double silver medallist Brett Wild back on the slopes with Millie Knight for the Super Combined event, Scott Meenagh back in action with the Biathlon 12.5km and the wheelchair curlers facing Slovakia and the Neutral Paralympic Athlete team.

For an overview of Channel 4’s comprehensive coverage of the Games go to;

http://paralympics.channel4.com/news/2018-winter-paralympics-day-day-coverage-guide/

The Torch Trophy Trust Awards are presented annually to nominations from sports governing bodies and sports organisations, to recognise voluntary work for sport and recreation from throughout the UK.  SDS was delighted that Eileen Ramsay from the  Dundee Branch was a worthy recipient  of a Torch Trophy Trust Award which was presented to her in London on Wednesday 7 March 2018  by HRH the Duke of Gloucester.

Eileen is so deserving of the award for all she has done.  She has been actively volunteering with the swimming club she co-founded in 1993, which now boasts a thriving group of 30-40 swimmers. As a volunteer coach, Eileen has contributed effectively to swimmers within the Dundee area.  Eileen had a desire to make a difference for children, young people and adults with a disability wishing to learn to swim or progress on their swimming pathway and what a difference she has made. Eileen has ensured that many children, young people and adults with disability have experienced the joy and exhilaration of leaning to swim especially learners with a severe disability. Through her patience, natural enthusiasm and desire for participants to share her love of swimming she has enabled many swimmers to discover the benefits of swimming in a fun and focused environment. For over 20 years Eileen has ensured that participants have gained the benefits of learning to swim through her great skills, expertise and commitment.

But Eileen does not stop at coaching swimming, she has been the Chair of her local Branch of SDS for the last 12 years, constantly ensuring that the needs of disabled athletes and players were considered by local partners.

She has also been a very active volunteer with Tayside Special Olympics.

She also served as a Board Director of SDS for 8 years.   As a Board member,  she always paid due care and diligence when executing her responsibilities to ensure athletes and volunteers at a local level had a voice on all occasions. She was a huge asset to the SDS management board and carried out her responsibilities with purpose and integrity, always prepared to put the voice of the local athletes first and foremost which is essential for SDS as an athlete centered organisation.

Eileen has put so much back into disability sport as an outstanding swimming coach, a long standing chair of the Dundee Branch, a SDS Board member for eight years and a lifelong champion for sporting opportunities for participants with a physical, sensory or learning disability. We are truly indebted to Eileen for the countless hours she has given to ensure the joy of sport has touched so many peoples’ lives.

Congratulations to Eileen and thanks to the Directors and support staff of the Torch Trophy Trust Awards for providing such a splendid event.

The picture shows Eileen Ramsay with her Torch Trophy Trust Award

#ScotsonParaGB

Day two of the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games once again saw all 7 Scottish members of the ParalympicsGB team in action.

Alpine Skiing

Brett Wild was back in action as guide to Millie Knight for the Super-G fresh from their silver medal in the Downhill event on day one of the Games.

The pair were first to race clocking 1:33.76 to set the bar for the event. They saw ParalympicsGB teammates Menna Fitzpatrick and Jennifer Kehoe record a time of 1:34.54 to secure bronze but it wasn’t to be the gold medal as  Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova and Natalia Subrtova, snatched first-place with a stunning run of 1:30.17.

After his second silver medal in two days Brett said:

“Millie has been nervous before but it won’t affect our skiing at all and when she crossed the line she said you were right it wasn’t bumpy at all!

“Because we are attached by headset I can just hear how she’s feeling. I can tell from Millie’s breathing if she’s a bit nervous or anxious from being together for two years and she did brilliantly well today.

“It’s really hard because when you come down first you have no idea because there’s no one to judge it against.

“When we saw Menna and Jen come down and we were ahead of them we knew it was a good run because they beat us in every race this season. Then it was just a waiting game. It’s amazing to be back on the podium today.”

Para Nordic Skiing

Former paratrooper Scott Meenagh had recovered from yesterday’s 7.5 km Biathlon event and was now eager to enter his first Paralympic Cross Country event and the demands of the 15 km race.

After finishing 18th yesterday Scott bettered that result by one , clocking 46:07.4 to finish 17th narrowly missing out on 16th after a sprint to the line with China’s Bitao Huang. After finishing the race, Scott collapsed into the snow confessing he had nothing left in the tank.

After the race, Scott said:

“I really enjoyed that, I gave it everything. I left everything out there today I’m so tired now,”

“It’s probably harder to switch off after the first race than before the first race. I think I was still buzzing last night.

“When you turn the light off that’s when you really start to truly and deeply analyse what went on during the day.

“It’s been amazing and fortunately I managed to get to sleep last night and to be straight back up and onto that buzz today has been unreal.”

Wheelchair Curling

Having secured a fantastic 5-2 win against the reigning World Champions, Norway on day one of the wheelchair curling round robin, Great Britain faced a double header against an experienced Swiss rink and the rink from Finland.

Unfortunately, Great Britain suffered a 7-4 morning-session defeat to Switzerland which meant there was a slight hint of early pressure heading into their evening game with Finland.

After a tense start which saw the teams tied 2-2 after the first three rinks Aileen Neilson’s rink pulled aware to secure an emphatic 9-2 victory.

At the end of a hard day’s competition Aileen commented:

“It would have been nice to be at 3-0 heading into the third day but we’ll certainly take 2-1, we’re still getting used to the venues and used to the stones, you need that time to get familiar with everything so we’re very happy to take a win from that last game.

“Any time you have a defeat you look back at what’s gone. What could we have done better, what didn’t we do so well and what things do we need to change from that?

“We certainly did that after the first game, we perhaps didn’t play at our best and that’s why we lost but we improved as the day went on and got that win.

“It’s always nice to end the day with a win, it gives you time to reflect nicely heading into the evening and be ready to go again the next day in a positive frame of mind.

“Between the games we take a bit of time to rest, put our emotions out there, have a bit to eat and then debrief. Whether we win or lose we know there are things that we can improve on and we’re always looking to do that.

“There are always shots you wish you make, we did enough in this game and hopefully we can build on that for tomorrow.

“This is a long competition where you might not play at your best in every game but that’s something we’ve known at the start.

“You can’t go as hard as you’d like to every game so management is very important, we’ve been training for that with early starts, late finishes and busy days so we’re ready.

“Physically and mentally we’re happy with that, now we just keep plugging on.”

The action continues tomorrow with the wheelchair curlers pitched against Sweden before taking on the much fancied Canadians.

For an overview of Channel 4’s comprehensive coverage of the Games go to:
http://paralympics.channel4.com/news/2018-winter-paralympics-day-day-coverage-guide/

#ScotsonParaGB

Following the spectacular Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, Pyeongchang County, South Korea, it was time for Scotland’s 7 athletes within the ParalympicsGB team to focus on the competition for medals on day one of the Games.

Alpine Skiing

Glasgow’s Brett Wild was in action as guide to Millie Knight on day one of the Games in the Downhill, an event that they are the reigning World Champions in having secured the gold medal in Tarvisio, Italy, in 2017.

Knight and  Wild posted a time of 1:30.58 to win silver in the women’s VI Downhill, 0.86 seconds behind Slovakia’s Henrietta Farkasova who took gold with her guide Natalia Subrtova.  Belgium’s Eleonor Sana and her guide Chloe Sana completed the podium with bronze.

After his race Brett said:

“It’s absolutely unbelievable, we’ve had a really challenging season but deep down I knew that if Millie skied the way she could I knew we could do this and even better.

“We’ve got another four races to go though, so let’s keep pushing on.

“We have been working so hard and all season we have been so far away from the top guys and to cross the line and see we were 0.8 seconds behind them, I knew it was a good run because they are normally a few seconds ahead of everyone else.

“It was phenomenal for us to be back where we wanted to be and be back in the mix.”

 

Para Nordic Skiing

Scotland’s Scott Meenagh made his Paralympic debut in the Biathlon 7.5 km Sitting event capping a remarkable transition to the sport for the 29 year old from Cumbernauld. Scott competed in para rowing at an international level and only started Nordic Skiing in December 2014 before making the switch from rowing full time in March 2016.

Meenagh was part of the Paralympic Inspiration Programme four years ago in Sochi and has been determined to make it to the start line at a Paralympic Games ever since.

Scott posted a time of 27:28.1 in the men’s Biathlon 7.5km Sitting, finished 18th overall in his first-ever Paralympic race with a time of 27:28.1, just 3:38.4 behind American gold medallist Daniel Cnossen, with the silver going to Belarus’ Dzmitry Loban while Canada’s Collin Cameron skied to bronze.

 

After his debut race, Scott said:

“It feels amazing, absolutely incredible. Racing out there was such a buzz today, there was a different energy. It’s so different at a Paralympics and to be there with some of the best people in the world was an absolute privilege and it brought another level out of me today.

“I skied aggressively. I came here to ski hard and aggressive. I’m fairly happy with the way that I skied. I dropped a couple of shots on each round which, in my eyes, is not acceptable.

“However, it was my first time and shooting conditions were changing all the time today so we’ll go back and reassess.

“But I won’t be too hard on myself today because that was a huge milestone on my journey.

“Four years ago I was on the Paralympic Inspiration Programme and Paralympic sport just seemed like another level.

“I made a small promise to myself when I watched the welcome ceremony last time that I’d be on the other side of the fence. I didn’t want to be a spectator.

“I’ve achieved that now and I’m incredibly proud of myself. For the rest of the Games I am hoping for more of the same. I want to ski with a lot of intent and ski smart. It was my first ever time at a Paralympics Games today so hopefully I’ll be a little bit calmer next time.”

 

Wheelchair Curling

The all Scottish rink of Aileen Neilson, Gregor Ewan, Robert McPherson, Angie Malone MBE and Hugh Nibloe arrived in PyeongChang in confident mood following their bronze medal in the 2017 WCF World Wheelchair Curling Championships.

They couldn’t have been dealt a more difficult opening match at the 2018 Games as they were paired against reigning World Champions Norway in their opening match.

The Great Britain rink coached by Scotland’s Sheila Swan, dominated the game and ran out winners by 5-2. After losing a shot in the first end, Great Britain rallied and looked the stronger unit taking two shots in the fourth end and singles in the seventh and eighth ends to overpower the World Champions.

 

Look out for further action tomorrow as Brett Wild is back on the slopes for the Super-G, Scott Meenagh goes in the 15 km Cross Country and our wheelchair curlers have a double header against Switzerland and Finland.

For an overview of Channel 4’s comprehensive coverage of the Games go to:
http://paralympics.channel4.com/news/2018-winter-paralympics-day-day-coverage-guide/