Gallagher: "These Games are special"

PyeongChang 2018

Another shot at history

From being unable to brush her own hair to heading to the Winter Paralympic Games, a rollercoaster ride barely begins to cover Kelly Gallagher’s past 12 months.

Dislocating her arm last year, a place in PyeongChang was in doubt for the Bangor visually impaired skier, palpably relieved to get the nod earlier this year.

More pertinently it means Gallagher now has yet another shot of history – bidding to become the first British athlete to defend their Paralympic title.

Four years ago the 32-year-old skied to new heights as Great Britain’s first gold medallist, with she and guide Charlotte Evans proudly atop the podium.

Plenty has changed since for Northern Ireland’s first Winter Paralympian, notably getting a new guide in Gary Smith, but motivation is still the same as ever.

That’s what I’m after, knowing where we were last year when I couldn’t brush my own hair because of my arm, then bringing ourselves back and sending it down the hill

Kelly Gallagher

“It’s been hard, the injury last year took so much out of my psychologically and it was so much easier, in the first six months, to be recovering physically,” she said.

“But because it was difficult I went so far back, I lost all of my confidence. I didn’t feel I could draw on any experience, either of skiing with Gary or before that, so it’s only in the past few weeks or few months where we’ve been able to get that confidence back.

“It would be really special to win any medal in PyeongChang, whether that’s bronze, silver, gold or even multiple medals.

“But what would be more special for Gary and I is taking what we’re doing in training, those really good times that we’re trying to be consistent on, bringing that to the race experience.

“That’s what I’m after, knowing where we were last year when I couldn’t brush my own hair because of my arm, then bringing ourselves back and sending it down the hill.”

Kelly Gallagher on instagram

A third Games

Gallagher’s Sochi Super-G achievements were not her first taste of the Games, making her debut four years previously at Vancouver 2010.

But even after her gold medal a trip to PyeongChang was never a foregone conclusion, though it was a nagging desire which she and Smith would not release.

The pair would admit however that they head to South Korea with plenty of unknowns, with inconsistent performances coming from their World Cup season.

But come the bitter end Gallagher is a Paralympic gold medallist – now she’s keen to show why.

“When I first got into the sport I would never imagine that I would be here on the cusp of my third Games, I never thought I’d go to Vancouver and Sochi and do so well,” she added.

“I didn’t really think about PyeongChang, even after Sochi I was thinking about going back to work because my career break was up but I hadn’t achieved everything that I want to achieve.

“So these Games are special because although I’ve achieved so much, winning Britain’s first very Paralympic gold, I want to achieve this for myself to go out there and ski as well as I possibly can.

“Gary and I have been skiing since 2016 so it’s a culmination of all the work we’ve put in together. It’s a little bit different, but very special as well.”

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