Milano-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games draw to a close, while Charlotte Bankes and Freddy Carrick-Smith take World Cup and World Junior Championships podiums
Simpson and Poth named flagbearers as Milano-Cortina Games draw to a close
Neil SImpson and Rob Poth, ParalympicsGB’s sole medal winners at the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games, were named as Closing Ceremony flagbearers as the 2026 Games drew to a close. Silver medallists in the Alpine Combined event, the pair experienced a frustrating end to the Games’ races with a DNF in the VI Slalom, before carrying the flag alongside curler Jo Butterfield.
Elsewhere, Brits pointed to a promising future in the final weekend of Paralympic Games skiing action with strong showings from a young Para Alpine cohort including Dom Allen, Sam Cozens, Hester Poole, and an impressive final race of the Games from Menna Fitzpatrick. Scott Meenagh, meanwhile, drew his storied Paralympic Winter Games career to a close, the legendary sit skier bringing to an end a journey which broke the mould for Britain’s standing in Para Nordic skiing.
Bankes soars to top of SBX standings with Montafon World Cup bronze
Charlotte Bankes’ bid for a third career Snowboard Cross Crystal Globe received a boost as she finished third at the Montafon World Cup, leaping rival Lea Casta to top the standings in the process.
After battling through qualifiers in twelfth position, Bankes’ raced with her customary nous and determination to reach the Big Final, holding on for bronze after a difficult start. With previous overall leader Casta finishing seventh, Bankes now sits thirteen points clear at the top of the table on 373, with Casta on 360, and Australia’s Josie Baff third on 339.
Freddy Carrick-Smith seals World Junior Championships silver
Freddy Carrick-Smith added another notch to his impressive Alpine track record with silver in the Men’s Alpine WJC Slalom. Carrick-Smith, who sat in second behind brother Luca at the turn, put down a composed second run to seal a first World Junior Championships podium of his career, and cement his standing as one of Britain’s most promising Alpine skiers in a generation.
Elsewhere, Zak Carrick-Smith also skied into a top-10 finish in the GS after a blistering second run performance saw him catapult up the standings from a mid-20s berth to the top-10.
And the rest…
Jaz Taylor finished just outside the podiums in the latest round of Telemark World Cup races, coming fourth in Parallel Sprint in Bardonecchia…
Andrew Musgrave was the pick of the Cross-Country World Cup showings, finishing 23rd in the Men’s 50k Mass Start in Oslo…
Ollie Davies secured a top-30 berth in the Montafon Ski Cross World Cup, finishing in 29th position.
A packed first day of the Games saw all three of GB Snowsport’s para disciplines – Alpine, Biathlon and Snowboard – take to the start line.
Simpson claims best Paralympic Downhill result while Warburton makes debut
Neil Simpson opened his second Paralympic Games in style, finishing fourth in the Vision Impaired Downhill, guided by Andrew Simpson.
The brothers made a confident start to their run with some sharp turns on the opening section. A slight wobble midway down the course threatened to cost time, but a quick recovery saw Simpson clock 1:21.31, finishing less than three seconds outside the podium.
The result improves on his seventh-place finish at the Beijing Games in 2022.
Also in action was Paralympic debutant Fred Warburton, guided by James Hannan, with the pair racing in their first-ever Downhill competition.
Having only begun competing internationally in February 2025, the duo have made rapid progress to reach the Paralympic start gate.
Their time of 1:30.32 may not have challenged the front of the field, but it marked a significant moment for the young Brit who showed immense courage tackling his first Downhill race on the Paralympic stage.
The Alpine squad returns to action in the Super G on Monday 9 March.
Meenagh opens third Paralympic Games campaign
Scott Meenagh battled through a challenging start to his third Paralympic Winter Games in the Sprint Biathlon. After falling on the opening stretch, he managed to quickly recover and get back on track to finish the course.
Unfortunately, six missed targets on the shooting range peoved costly, leaving him unable to recover enough time as he crossed the line 24:54.3 to claim 23rd place.
While not the start he had hoped for at his third Paralympic Games, Meenagh is ready to go again tomorrow, where he is set to compete in the Individual.
Steady Seedings in Para Snowboard Cross
James Barnes-Miller and Davy Zyw both took to the start of the Para Snowboard Cross course, competing in the Upper Limb category.
Barnes-Miller marked his second Paralympic Games, securing a solid fifth place with a best time of 52.17, putting him in a strong position heading into the knockout rounds.
Zyw also began his Paralympic campaign, making history as what is thought to be the first athlete with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) to compete at the Winter Paralympic Games.
He posted a time of 58.58 to secure 18th on a demanding course that had already seen several other riders withdraw due to injury during training.
The pair race again in a knockout format on Sunday 8 March at 10:00 GMT.
Two icons of British skiing selected by ParalympicsGB to carry the flag at Opening Ceremony of Paralympic Winter Games 2026
Menna Fitzpatrick and Scott Meenagh have been named Opening Ceremony flagbearers for the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games by ParalympicsGB.
The pair, who are both set to compete at their third Paralympic Winter Games this month, were selected after a vote among teammates, confirming their standing as two of the most respected athletes to represent Britain in Paralympic winter sport disciplines.
Speaking ahead of the announcement, Menna said:
“I’m super excited, I still can’t believe I’ve made it to Cortina and so this is an extra cherry on top. My family have supported me throughout this whole journey so I’m doing it for them as well.
“For this to be my third Paralympic Games is kind of surreal really, I feel like I’m the same girl who skied as a hobby – they keep calling me a veteran but I’m not sure I feel like that yet at the age of 27. I just can’t wait to get these Games underway!”
Scott said:
“It’s remarkable. I try really hard every day to represent my sport, myself and my country in the best way I can; I try to do that in my behaviours and express that in my performance, so now to have that little bit of recongition – I’m speechless.
“I’m so ready now, I’ve been thinking about this for so long. I’ve been through a whole rollercoaster of feelings throughout this Paralympic cycle, so to be able to to out there now – I’m so excited to be on the biggest stage and to go out there and represent my sport. Having my family on the sidelines watching is the fairy dust on top, that’s just a dream come true.”
Phil Smith, ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission at Milano-Cortina 2026, added:
“I am absolutely delighted to announce Menna and Scott have been chosen as the ParalympicsGB flagbearers for the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony.
“While for performance reasons they are not able to be in Verona for the parade, because they are both racing the following morning, they will still proudly represent ParalympicsGB with the pre-filmed content shown during the ceremony.
“Their selection – which was voted for by their teammates – underlines just how much both athletes epitomise the ParalympicsGB values that we as a team are so proud of.”
Everyone at GB Snowsport would like to congratulate Menna and Scott, and wishes the whole ParalympicsGB team the best of luck as the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games get underway.
Final wave of squad selections includes Britain’s most decorated Winter Paralympian alongside host of Games debutants
ParalympicsGB have confirmed the final swathe of GB Snowsport athletes selected to represent Britain at the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games, which begin next month.
Among a series of historic firsts for the Games, Nina Sparks is named as Britain’s first ever female Paralympic snowboarder, while Davy Zyw is understoof to be the first ever snowsport athlete with Motor Neurone Disease to compete at a Paralympic Winter Games.
Also named in the squad is Britain’s most decorated winter Paralympian, Menna Fitzpatrick, who is named after a period of rehabilitation from injury alongside guide Katie Guest in Para Alpine.
Other debutants selected in the second wave of squad announcements are Para Snowboarder Matt Hamilton, and Para Alpine skiers Dom Allen, Hester Poole, Sam Cozens, and Fred Warburton.
GB Snowsport would like to congratulate all of the athletes selected to represent ParalympicsGB at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Full Squad Selections
Para Alpine
- Menna Fitzpatrick, Katie Guest (guide)
- Sam Cozens, Adam Hall (guide)
- Fred Warburton, James Hannan (guide)
- Dom Allen
- Hester Poole, Ali Hall (guide)
- Neil Simpson, Andrew Simpson (guide), Rob Poth (guide)
Para Snowboard
- James Barnes-Miller
- Matt Hamilton
- Ollie Hill
- Nina Sparks
- Davy Zyw
Para Nordic
- Scott Meenagh
Five medals, three of them gold, see Zoe Atkin, Mia Brookes, and Kirsty Muir make history
Gold Rush in Aspen
British athletes stormed to an historic five-medal showing at X Games 2026, with Zoe Atkin, Mia Brookes, and Kirsty Muir all leaving an indelible mark on the most storied of freestyle sport competitions.
Gold medal winning performance Atkin in Freeski Halfpipe, Brookes in Snowboard Slopestyle, and Muir in Freeski Slopestyle were backed up by Big Air silver and bronze medals for Muir and Brookes respectively, giving British athletes their biggest ever X Games medal haul, and confirming Britain’s standing as one of the most progressive nations in Park & Pipe competition.
Brookes kicked things off in spectacular style with a dominant Slopestyle victory, before Atkin put her own polish on proceedings with gold in the Superpipe. Brookes’ day two Big Air medal, delivered with a signature cab-14, put Britain at three podiums from three performanecs, before Muir capped things off in spectacular form with a brace of day three medals, and a best ever set of British X Games results.
Ryding signs off in Kitzbuehel with 20th
On a slope steeped in British Slalom history, Dave Ryding marked his final Kitzbuehel performance with a battling 20th place finish. The site of three of Ryding’s seven World Cup podiums, Kitzbuehel was written into British history when the country’s greatest ever Alpine ski racer took the nation’s first ever Slalom World Cup victory there in 2022, before following it up with a second place finish just a year later. While a fourth Kitzbuehel podium never appeared in the offing, Ryding was nevertheless the pick of the Brits, finishing just over a second outside of the top-10.
Billy Major secured a fifth top-30 berth of the season finishing in 24th, while Laurie Taylor was a first run DNQ and Luca Carrick-Smith a first run DNF, while in the Speed events Roy Steudle recorded a Super-G DNF and 53rd in Downhill.
Para squad deliver solid performances in Lenk and Jakuszyce
The Para Nordic and Para Snowboard squads recorded solid performances in the Jakuszyce Para Biathlon World Cup and Lenk Para Snowboard Cross World Cup and Europa Cup races, as teams gear up towards the Paralympic Winter Games in early March.
In Para Nordic, Scott Meenagh‘s best result came in the 7.5km Sprint where he finished fifth, before coming eighth and seventh in the Sprint Pursuit and 12.5km Individual events.
In Para Snowboard, James Barnes-Miller came closest to a medal finishing sixth and fourth in back-to-back showings, while Ollie Hill took seventh and ninth berths. In the Europa Cup field, Davy Zyw took his third EC podium of the season, and first in SBX, with a third place finish.
Taylor victorious in Melchsee-Frutt
Jaz Taylor added another Telemark World Cup victory to her illustrious record, winning the first of back-to-back Parallel Sprint World Cups in Melchsee-Frutt. The result gives Taylor her third podium and second victory of the 2025/26 World Cup season, and the third of her career in Melchsee-Frutt.
Returning Paralympians make up first cohort of Milan-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games Snowsport team
Six athletes competing across three Para Snowsport disciplines have been named in the first wave of Snowsport selections for the ParalympicsGB team set to travel for the Paralympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina next year.
Beijing 2022 Para Alpine double-medallist Neil Simpson is selected alongside guides Andrew Simpson and Rob Poth, while in Para Snowboard Ollie Hill and James Barnes-Miller return for their second and third Games respectively. Scott Meenagh, meanwhile, rounds out the first wave of selections being named to represent Britain in Para Nordic skiing for a third Paralympic Winter Games having made his debut in PyeongChang in 2018.
All six athletes were nominated and selected having fulfilled the A Band selection criteria, with a second wave of selections in Para Alpine and Para Snowboard due to be made in February 2026.
Speaking after selections were confirmed, James REdpath, GB Snowsport Head of Paralympic Programmes said:
“Everyone at GB Snowsport would like to congratulate Scott, Ollie, James, Neil, Andrew, and Rob on their selections for the ParalympicsGB team for next year’s Games. These selections are the result of four years of hard work and dedication from the athletes, their coaches, and the whole team that surrounds them, and represent a really proud moment for everyone involved in the process.
“As everyone knows, this isn’t the end of the hard work, but just the beginning of the next phase, for both these six athletes and the other skiers and snowboarders looking to cement their selection in the second round of nominations in February. All our athletes, and the whole team, are laser focused on ensuring we’re in a position to peak in March next year and make the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games another celebration of Britain’s strength in Para Snowsport.“
Beijing 2022 Para Snowboard bronze medallist, Ollie Hill, said:
“Lovely. Let’s see what we can cook up this games. Can’t believe it’s been 4 years already! How time flies….”
Scott Meenagh added:
“I am incredibly proud to be selected to represent Great Britain at the Paralympic Winter Games. Every time is incredibly special, and this year will be my third Games. This is a testament to the powerful dream we had as a group, when this journey was conceived in a coffee shop in 2016.
“A Games in Italy will be extra special as it’s much closer to home. To have my wife, children, family, and friends travelling to support me will help push me to another level.”
Everyone at GB Snowsport would like to congratulate all six of our selected athletes.
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale hit gold, Atkin clinches Silver in China, and XC team impress in Davos
Bankes and Nightingale top Team standings in Cervinia
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale took Snowboard Cross World Cup victory on the season’s first week of SBX action with a sensational display of racing speed and tactics.
The 2023 Team SBX World Champions raced brilliantly throughout Sunday’s event, qualifying in second spot from the Quarter Final stage before victory in the Semi Final saw them through to a Big Final showdown against teams representing Italy, France, and Germany.
Sitting in third position after the men’s run, Bankes then dominated the women’s run to seal victory ahead of Italy in second and France in third.
In the individual competitions, Bankes marked her first appearance since sustaining a broken collarbone to take ninth spot, while in the Men’s contest, Nightingale finished 34th and Max Vardy took 37th on his World Cup debut.
Atkin wins Silver in Secret Garden
Zoe Atkin marked her first appearance of the season with silver in the Secret Garden Halfpipe World Cup. The reigning Halfpipe World Champion skied brilliantly in challenging conditions to lead the standings after the first run, before she was overhauled by China’s Eileen Gu by a margin of 1.50 points.
Earlier, the men’s competition saw Gus Kenworthy and Sam Gaskin finish 34th and 35th respectively, while Siddhartha Ullah came 30th in the Men’s Snowboard competition.
Clugnet and Musgrave headline strong showing for Cross-Country team in Davos
James Clugnet and Andrew Musgrave put in superb showings amid a strong team performance in Davos on the latest leg of the Cross-Country World Cup. Clugnet’s tenth place finish in the Men’s SP F was followed by sixth place for Musgrave in 10km F to give both athletes their best finish of the season so far. Earlier, the Team Sprint had seen both Clugnet and Andrew Young and Anna Pryce and Tabitha Williams finish in 17th, just outside of Finals, while Pryce was also on impressive form to take 35th in the Sprint Free, and Young 41st in the 10km F. Joe Davies, meanwhile, made his first appearance of the season taking an excellent 17th place in the 10km F.
Meenagh secures brace of Biathlon top-10s in Canmore
Scott Meenagh‘s first Para Biathlon World Cup showing of the season yielded a brace of top-10 finishes alongside an 11th place in the 12.5km Individual. The highlight came with a 5th place in the Sprint discipline which saw Meenagh in striking distance of a podium before a crash and damaged ski held back further progress, before following up with an 8th place in the Sprint Pursuit.
Two in top-30 in Men’s Val d’Isere Slalom
A challenging course delivered two top-30 finishes for the Men’s Alpine Slalom team, with Laurie Taylor finishing 12th and Billy Major 24th. With three Brits in the top-15 after the first run omens looked good for a strong showing, but course challenges saw a DNF for Dave Ryding while Taylor and Major both battled through to cement their top-30 standings.
Luca Carrick-Smith and Freddy Carrick-Smith both recorded first run DNFs in the Slalom and Giant Slalom respectively.
And the rest…
Ollie Davies was pick of the Brits in the Ski Cross Val Thorens World Cup finishing 21st in the second of the back-to-back World Cups, taking 46th in the first race. Scott Johns finished 53rd and 57th.
Fred Warburton and guide James Hannan were Britain’s only representatives in the Steinach Para Alpine World Cup, finishing 7th in Alpine Combined, 8th in the SG Speed Event, and 8th and 7th in back-to-back SG World Cups.
Britain’s Park & Pipe team shone on two of China’s biggest stages, while there was Cross-Country, Moguls, Para Nordic, and Alpine action in Europe and North America
Brits Shine on the Beijing Big Air Stage
Mia Brookes banked her fourth career World Cup victory with a masterclass performance in the Beijing Big Air World Cup to see off a strong field in the Chinese capital. Making her first competitive appearance of the season, Brookes breezed through qualifiers in top spot with a score of 173.73, before bringing out a backside-12 melon and a cab-14 stale in Finals to below away the competition, delivering a 30-point victory margin. In the Men’s competition, Txema Mazet-Brown qualified from heat one with a well-executed cab-12, before delivering a personal best World Cup result of seventh place in a strong showing against some of the world’s best Big Air riders.
In Freeski, Kirsty Muir showcased her grit and resilience, bouncing back from a heavy crash in the second run of Finals to take fourth place and a share of the yellow bib having earlier qualified in second position.
Tom Greenway earned his best World Cup result in the Men’s Freeski contest with an overall 17th place finish, stomping a double-12 tail and switch left double-18 stale to secure an excellent score of 153.00 in qualifiers.
Elsewhere in Women’s Snowboard, Katie Ormerod finished 30th after a run one knuckle led to a decision to pull out after the first run of competitions, while Maisie Hill was a DNS following a practice run crash and Chris McCormick was also a DNS in Men’s Freeski after a crash in practice.
Kenworthy returns to podium on first competition in four years
In Snow League Halfpipe, Gus Kenworthy made an astonishing return to competition after four years’ absence, delivering a third place finish and his first major podium since 2020 with a classic demonstration of Halfpipe skiing.
The 34-year-old, who announced his return to action earlier this year, rolled back the years to progress to the Semi Final stage of the new knockout format competition, before winning the third-place playoff after his opponent was forced to withdraw with injury.
Zoe Atkin, despite her best efforts, was unable to compete due to illness.
A weekend of breakthroughs and momentum for the Cross Country squad
The Cross Country squad delivered a solid set of results across Sprint Classic, 20km Skiathlon and 10km Interval Start Free in Trondheim. For the first time since 2019, Britain fielded a team across the men’s and women’s competition with World Cup debuts from Tabitha Williams and Anna Pryce.
In the 20km Skiathlon, Andrew Musgrave was in solid form as he came in 13th, with Gabriel Gledhill following behind crossing the line in 65th.
In the women’s Skiathlon, World Cup debutants Tabitha Willams and Anna Pryce put down a strong showing to return home with 51st and 55th place finishes.
The Sprint Classic saw Pryce and James Clugnet take 63rd and 65th place respectively.
Over in the 10km Interval Start Free, Williams and Pryce secured 57th and 68th positions while in the men’s race, Musgrave ended up in 53rd, Gledhill 68th and Clugnet 76th.
Meenagh gets season underway in Canmore
In the Para-Nordic 10km Mass Start Classic sitting classification, Scott Meenagh opened his World Cup campaign with a hard-earned 13th place in the Canadian resort of Canmore, with Britain’s most successful ever Para Nordic skier now set to take on three Para Biathlon World Cup competitions this week in the Sprint, Sprint Pursuit, and 12.5km Individual events.
Moguls athletes Kick-Off the season in Ruka
Makayla Gerken-Schofield got her World Cup season underway with battling 26th and 33rd place finishes on an incredibly gnarly course. whilst Mateo Jeannesson was a DNS as he and the team build a strategy to see him peak in the coming months of the season.
Hard-Fought Alpine Results on the Birds of Prey
Downhill action in Beaver Creek saw Roy-Alexander Steudle to 63rd place as he battled through a demanding set on a challenging track; while unsafe weather conditions saw the Super G race to be cancelled for Steudle as his start bib fell outside of the top 30.
Paralympians selected in all three Para disicplines for Milan-Cortina season
13 skiers and snowboarders have been named to GB Snowsport’s World Cup squads across three Paralympic disciplines ahead of the start of the 2025/26 season.
In a year which will see the season culminate in the Paralympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina in March, the squads bear significant Paralympic experience with previous Paralympic Games medallists Neil Simpson, Ollie Hill, and Britain’s most decorated Winter Paralympian Menna Fitzpatrick all set to compete in the year ahead.
In Para Alpine, Simpson and Fitzpatrick are joined by Hester Poole, while Katie Guest, Adam Hall, Alistair Hall, Andrew Simpson, and Rob Poth are selected as Guides. Scott Meenagh is the lone selection in Para Nordic, coming off the back of a season which saw him finish third in the overall IBU Para Biathlon World Cup standings, while Para Snowboard will see the four-athlete World Cup squad of last season return, with James Barnes-Miller, Matt Hamilton, Ollie Hill, and Nina Sparks all set for action.
Commenting on selections, James Redpath, GB snowsport Head of Paralympic Programmes, said:
“This is an experienced, talented group of athletes who have all proven themselves at the highest levels of our sport.
“For many of them, this year will mark the culmination of four years of hard work in both competition and training, but before our focus shifts too far towards Milan-Cortina, we’re all aware that we have important work to do to put ourselves in the best position for success at the Games.
“Every athlete selected to the squad has earned their place through real commitment and dedication, and we look forward to watching them continue to deliver throughout the coming season.”
The Para Alpine World Cup season is scheduled to begin at Steinach, Austria in December, with Para Nordic beginning with both Biathlon and Cross Country competitions in Canmore, Canada in December, while the Para Snowboard season gets underway in Landgraaf in the Netherlands at the end of November.
Full Squad Selections:
Para Alpine World Cup squad
- Menna Fitzpatrick
- Hester Poole
- Neil Simpson
- Katie Guest (Guide)
- Adam Hall (Guide)
- Alistair Hall (Guide)
- Andrew Simpson (Guide)
- Rob Poth (Guide)
Para Nordic World Cup squad
- Scott Meenagh
Para Snowboard World Cup squad
- James Barnes-Miller
- Matt Hamilton
- Ollie Hill
- Nina Sparks