Kelly Gallagher (alpine skier)

Kelly Gallagher

Sport
Country	United Kingdom  Northern Ireland
Event(s)	Alpine Skiing
Medal record Women's Alpine skiing Competitor for  Great Britain Paralympic Games Gold Sochi 2014 Women's Super-G Visually Impaired

Kelly Marie Gallagher, MBE (born 18 May 1985) is a Northern Irish skier and the first athlete from Northern Ireland to compete in the Winter Paralympics. Gallagher won Britain's first ever Winter Paralympic gold medal during Sochi 2014.^[1]

Early life

Gallagher was born on 18 May 1985 in Bangor, County Down.^[2] She is a graduate in mathematics from the University of Bath.^[3][4]

Pre-Paralympics

Downhill final of the 2013 IPC Alpine World Championships at La Molina in Spain. Kelly Gallagher (white tunic) and guide Charlotte Evans (orange tunic).

Gallagher has oculocutaneous albinism,^[5] is visually impaired and competes with a sighted guide. At the 2009 New Zealand Winter Games Gallagher, competing with guide Claire Robb, won gold in her first ever international race, the giant slalom. She was selected for the British team at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in February 2010.^[6][7] Kelly is funded by the Sport Northern Ireland Athlete Support Programme and supported by the Sports Institute for Northern Ireland and is also backed by Disability Sports NI.^[8]

2010 Paralympics

Gallagher was one of seven skiers for Great Britain at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and became the first athlete from Northern Ireland to compete in the Winter Paralympics.^[6] At the Games she contested the giant slalom and slalom events for visually impaired athletes.^[9] She finished sixth in the slalom but achieved the British team's highest finish, missing out on a medal by a single place and 3.36 seconds in the giant slalom.^[10]

Between Paralympics

Following the Paralympics Gallagher sought a new sighted guide to work with her through to the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi and selected 19-year-old Charlotte Evans from Medway. Evans had been out of the sport after she snapped a cruciate ligament in 2009 but took up the role having become a qualified coach.^[11]

In January 2011 Gallagher became the first British athlete to win a medal at the IPC World Championships. Competing with Evans the pair won the silver medal in the slalom and bronze in the giant slalom at the event held in Sestriere only five weeks after they started working together.^[12] The pairing also won a gold medal in slalom at the 2011 Europa Cup Finals.^[13]

2014 Paralympics

Gallagher won Britain's first ever Winter Paralympic gold on 10 March 2014, during the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. She finished first in the visually impaired Super-G competition.^[5] She fell during both the super-combined and the giant slalom.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to sport for people with a visual impairment.^[14]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kelly Gallagher.