Magnetised Menna Fitzpatrick solidified her status as Britain’s greatest Winter Paralympian with a surprise Super Combined bronze and admitted – I just can’t stay away from the ski slopes.
The Macclesfield flyer racked up her sixth Paralympic medal in Beijing on Monday to move two clear of Jade Etherington, who won three silvers and a bronze in Sochi, at the summit.
Visually impaired skier Fitzpatrick, 23, had sped to a superb Super-G silver just 24 hours earlier to add to her four gongs scooped in PyeongChang before making it two medals in two days in the hybrid, more technically-challenging Super Combined event.
After completing her media duties on Sunday, Fitzpatrick and guide Gary Smith shot straight back up the mountain on a gondola to get a look and feel of the slalom course – Super Combined consists of one Super-G run and another on slalom – ahead of Monday.
And the hard work paid off when it mattered as Fitzpatrick leapfrogged compatriot Millie Knight – who finished fourth – with a searing slalom run to grab a spot on the podium and sit in splendid isolation at the top of the charts.
She said: “Straight after we won the silver, we were back out on the slopes training slalom.
“It’s been a little while since we’ve been on slalom, so we wanted to get the good feelings and do a few turns.
“We’re always prepared for anything.
“It feels absolutely amazing. We weren’t really expecting a podium but we’re delighted to have got on it.
“We did a really solid run in the Super-G, were fifth after that and knew what we had to do.
“We just wanted to ski as cleanly as possible – and we’re so proud of the fact we’ve done that.”
Guide Smith, 37, corroborated Fitzpatrick’s verdict and said: “Menna does everything that she needs to do.
“Anything the staff or anyone ask, whether it strength and conditioning, physio, she does all that hard work and that’s what pays off.
“You couldn’t ask her to do anything else, so it’s brilliant.”
Super Slovak Henrieta Farkasova claimed a stunning 11 th Paralympic title while home favourite Zhu Daqing beat Fitzpatrick to silver by 1.75s.
Fitzpatrick’s pair of Beijing medals have added to stunning haul of four at PyeongChang 2018, where she claimed gold and silver in the slalom and giant slalom events.
It’s those two she turns her attention to next – on Friday and Sunday - but the Cheshire ace admits she’s not getting carried away in pursuit of seven Paralympic heaven.
“The competition now becomes a lot more competitive in the technical races,” added Fitzpatrick, 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.
“We’ll take every race and run as it comes – we just have to ski our best and see what happens.”
No one does more to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes than National Lottery players, who raise more than £30 million each week for good causes including grassroots and elite sport. Discover the positive impact playing the National Lottery has at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk and get involved by using the hashtag: #TNLAthletes
