Congratulations to Sports Institute Northern Ireland athlete Kelly Gallagher who today claimed a GOLD medal in the Slalom at the Europa Cup Finals being help in SPAIN.
Gallagher who picked up a Silver medal at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in January only started competitive skiing in 2008.
Kelly and her guide Charlotte Evans only started racing together at the start of the season and are already considered a real force in visually impaired Alpine Skiing.
Gallagher, had this to say on her result,
“I am delighted with my Gold Medal; this is the first Gold Medal with my new guide Charlotte. We had been practicing new training techniques last week so we are delighted to bring improved techniques into the race and win.
It is exactly a year ago today since I took a fourth place in the Paralympics in the Giant Slalom, so it is very exciting to see the progress we have made in the last year.
It is brilliant that all the hard work that I have put in over the summer months at the Sports Institute Northern Ireland is paying off.
The support team around us has been amazing and the support on the slopes is fantastic, my Mum is coming out to cheer me on for my final race and that means so much to me.
We are competing in the Giant Slalom on St Patrick's Day so I am very excited to see how we get on; all of these events are helping with our training towards the Winter Paralympics in Sochi in 2014.”
Gallagher 24, from County Down was the first winter Paralympian from Northern Ireland receives specialist support services from the Sports Institute Northern Ireland and receives funding from Sport Northern Ireland.
Ends....
Notes to Editors:
Kelly was named to the British Disabled Ski Team in the 2008/09 season.
Visually Impaired ski racers are guided through the alpine courses by a fully sighted guide. Kelly competes in all alpine disciplines: Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Downhill and Combined.
Kelly’s guide is Charlotte Evans, Charlotte, an ex-England team ski racer is combining her studies in Sports Science with training and racing with Kelly. The girls have progressed quickly with their skiing and Charlotte has adapted to guiding very quickly and intuitively.
The European Cup Final in IPC Alpine Skiing is taking place this week in La Molina, Spain with nearly 60 athletes from 13 countries participating.
Taking place from 14 to 17 March, the event is the climax of the European season and will see skiers compete in Super-G, Slalom and Giant Slalom races.
