Sochi Paralympics: Brits to return with six medals including first gold on snow

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/mar/16/sochi-paralympics-british-six-medals-first-gold-snow

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After a spectacular closing ceremony for the Sochi Paralympic Winter Games, the British team will be returning home in triumph with the haul of six medals, including the first ever gold from the event.

They were led into the stadium by Jade Etherington, the visually impaired skier who, with her guide Caroline Powell, became the downhill stars of the games. Their total of four medals, including three silvers – the third only 48 hours earlier in the super combined on Friday – made them the most successful British women in the history of the Winter Paralympics.

Kelly Gallagher, from Northern Ireland, took Britain's first ever gold at a Winter Games, with guide Charlotte Evans, in the visually impaired super-G skiing contest, and Etherington and Powell took bronze in the same event. The sixth medal came on the last day of the games, with a bronze from the curling finals on Saturday.

There were fears that Etherington, who was unwell on Saturday, might not be able to join the parade, but she was judged fit to carry the flag and lead her exultant colleagues into the stadium.

The closing ceremony included spectacular fireworks, the Spanish tenor José Carreras, a dance troupe of 210 Cossacks, and an opening dance and trapeze performance by wheelchair artists.

The opening of the Paralympics was overshadowed by Russia's role in the crisis in the Ukraine, which led to a boycott of the opening ceremony by politicians from many countries including Britain, but the games were judged a peaceful success.

Russia eventually topped the medals table with 13 golds. Britain finished in 19th place, but the six medals were twice the pre-Games target.

Britain took no medals at the Winter Paralympics in 1976 or 1980, but the team's fortune improved in Innsbruck in 1984 when the 22 athletes took four silver and six bronze medals. The record since then has been patchy, but although the 12 athletes in Vancouver in 2010 brought home no medals, Kelly Gallagher did finish just outside the medals in two events.

Last month there was also triumph at the Winter Olympics, when Jenny Jones took Britain's first medal on snow, a bronze in the women's snowboard slopestyle. Four days later Lizzy Yarnold won gold in the women's skeleton. With a silver and bronze for the men and women curlers, the four medals constituted the best result since the 1920s, and beat the three medal target set by UK Sport.