Fred Warburton’s Paralympic Debut
Fred Warburton (right) and his guide James Hannan bump fists after completing their downhill run
Fred Warburton recalls the exact date of his first official ski race: 22 February 2025.
Just over a year later, the 31-year-old has become a Paralympian, competing in his inaugural event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
Previously a casual skier during vacations, Warburton’s path to the Games began with a simple desire to impress his Italian father-in-law.
This motivation has propelled him to a seventh-place finish in Saturday’s downhill event, where he and his guide James Hannan raced down the renowned Olympia delle Tofane piste. Additional events are scheduled in the coming days.
"I would never have thought this would be possible five or six years ago, I didn't know where my life was going, I didn't have a clue on what was going to happen," said Warburton, who was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition, approximately seven years ago.
"I'm not much of a poker player, but you've got to play the hand you're dealt.
"I originally started skiing more seriously just to impress my father-in-law. He ski raced back in the day.
"He's watching back home and he's happy, he's coming out to watch the Super G and they're all super proud of me."
Warburton and Hannan have known each other for about 18 months and are embracing their first Paralympic experience fully.
Saturday marked their first downhill race together, with their factored finishing time placing them 14.24 seconds behind the winner, Austria’s Johannes Aigner, who secured his second consecutive Paralympic downhill gold.
"What a rollercoaster ride," Warburton said, who resides in Cervinia with his wife, while Hannan lives in their spare room.
"I knew that I was losing my vision around seven years ago, and I decided to put my best foot forward and attack it, and it's been an amazing journey, compressed and compacted into just over a year.
"The big goal for us is 2030 and building towards that and getting this experience, but it's a story of grit and determination and it shows to anyone out there who is faced with some adversity, put your best foot forward and you can do anything."
Another British athlete, Neil Simpson, along with his guide and brother Andrew Simpson, finished fourth, 2.67 seconds short of a podium finish.
Simpson is the defending champion in the Super G event, which is scheduled for Monday.
Voronchikhina Secures Russia’s First Medal at Games
Scott Meenagh’s Performance and Wheelchair Curling Update
Scott Meenagh, competing in his third Winter Paralympics and one of Great Britain’s two flagbearers for Friday’s opening ceremony, finished 23rd in the men’s Para-biathlon seated sprint.
The 36-year-old Scot faced challenges on the shooting range during the 7.5km race, missing six targets, and finished nearly five minutes behind the winner, Taras Rad, who earned Ukraine’s first medal of the Milan-Cortina Games.
Meenagh is expected to participate in three additional events during the Games, beginning with the 12.5km individual event on Sunday.
"Tomorrow, the stakes are a lot higher - you have to be really clean on the shooting range because every miss means a minute extra on to your time, so you see a lot more people settling into their routine," he told .
"There are going to be a lot of sore bodies towards the back end of that race and something I've been able to do well in my career is really grow into the longer races. When it starts to get tough, I'm able to stay in the fight, so that's what I plan to do tomorrow."
The wheelchair curling mixed team event commenced during Saturday’s morning session. The British team, consisting of Hugh Nibloe, Stewart Pimblett, Austin McKenzie, and Karen Aspey, lost 9-2 to Slovakia in their opening match of the 10-team round-robin phase.
The teams were evenly matched until the fifth end, when Slovakia scored a steal of four shots, extending their lead to 7-2.
Great Britain will return to action at 17:35 GMT, facing the United States as their second opponent of the day.
In the mixed doubles event, British duo Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean are set to compete against world champions Japan at 13:35.
Currently, they are among five nations tied for second place in the eight-team competition, holding two wins and two losses.
