Millie Knight battled back from fearing she would never ski again to secure her place at a third Winter Paralympic Games.

Knight, from Canterbury, became the youngest athlete to represent ParalympicsGB at a Winter Games in Sochi aged 15 before her hat-trick of alpine skiing medals - two silvers and one bronze - in PyeongChang.

Those thrilling South Korean heroics looked to lay the foundations for a medal-bulging Paralympic career, but a series of concussions since - including one serious incident in Leogang, Austria, last February - have derailed her preparations for Beijing.

The 23-year-old admits she may never be able to banish those demons but is looking forward to her third Games in China.

“It’s amazing considering the struggles, injuries and challenges that we’ve had. I’m pretty proud,” said former King’s School student Knight, one of more than 1,000 athletes able to train full-time thanks to National Lottery funding.

“It’s taken a lot of determination - I still can’t really believe that I’m going to my third Games, considering the place where my head was at six months ago.

“I genuinely thought ‘How can I even put skis back on, how can I do it when I know I’ve got so much fear these days?’.

“There were lots of times during the recovery when I questioned whether I was going to recover properly.

“Would I get back to 100% Millie the athlete, and even Millie the person? Am I going to get back to the level that I was at? Am I going to be way behind?

“I still don’t think I’m the same skier as I was in 2017 and 2018. After the crashes, I think a switch changed in my head that I don’t believe will ever be able to be switched back because I now have the fear that I previously didn’t have.

“It just creeps in like a bad smell - it’s like a rain cloud over you. Any little bit of confidence that I get it’s like ‘Yeah but you might fall, you might hit your head again, you might get another concussion’.

“It’s just all these doubts and questions that keep coming into my head that never previously came into my head. I thought I’d lost my bottle.

“When I got my selection letter through, it was quite emotional. ParalympicsGB are becoming like a family now - to represent them for the third time is incredible.”

Knight has never been an athlete short of resilience and, despite those near career-ending setbacks, arrives in Beijing with momentum.

After returning from her injury in November, Knight used the Christmas break to accelerate her recovery and soared to a brilliant super combined gold with guide Brett Wild at the World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway.

A bronze in the Super-G - won on her 23rd birthday - helped further build confidence ahead of ParalympicsGB’s alpine skiers flying out to their recent Austrian holding camp.

Knight and Wild, 29, will compete in five events but it’s the downhill and Super-G - where they won two silvers in PyeongChang - which represent their strongest podium hopes.

Knight knows she’s evolved as a skier and admits enjoying the moment - not simply aiming for medals - is now her number one priority.

“I’m a different skier now. I’m a more mature skier, who takes less risks but I work super hard in the gym, so I know I’m strong,” added Knight.

“The experience is what I’m going to these Games for. It’s for the performance, to cross the line, standing on my feet, with a smile on my face.

“I know you don’t hear many athletes say that. Obviously I’m a competitive athlete and a gold would be wonderful, but that’s very much not our focus.

“If we come away from these Games without a medal, that’s not going to be disappointing for us. It’s about performing well and being proud of what we’ve done.”

The Winter Paralympics will be held from Friday until next Sunday.

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