Fitzpatrick Focused on Future After Challenging Games
British Para-skier Menna Fitzpatrick is already setting her sights on future competitions following her performance at the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics, where she missed out on a medal.
The 27-year-old, recognized as Britain's most successful Winter Paralympian, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury late last year. Despite this, she postponed surgery to participate in her third Paralympic Games.
After finishing fifth in her final event, the women's visually impaired slalom, Fitzpatrick spoke to about her aspirations for upcoming events.
"Every end of a cycle marks a new challenge and my plan is to hopefully make it to France in 2030," she said.
"I first learned how to ski in France so it's almost like going home. That will be a really cool one for me to aim for."
Fitzpatrick and her guide Katie Guest achieved their best result in the final event after placing sixth in both the super-G and giant slalom, and ninth in the Alpine combined.
Austrian athlete Veronika Aigner continued her dominance at the Games by securing her fourth gold medal, finishing four seconds ahead of fellow Austrian Elina Stary.
Although Fitzpatrick did not add another medal to her collection, she emphasized the positive aspects of her performance.
"I think it's been a really successful Games for us, considering where I was before, so I'm really happy, especially with the performance today," she added.
"We really went out there and pushed it, and are really happy with the result.
"As an athlete you always hope for your absolute best skiing in a race. It often doesn't happen like that and as athletes we're really hard on ourselves when things are tough.
"It's been a challenging two weeks, but just knowing that I've got these performances within me, even if the preparation didn't go quite to plan, gives me confidence."
Team Challenges and Determination
Fitzpatrick's teammate Hester Poole experienced disappointment after being disqualified in the first run of the women's giant slalom for straddling a gate, following a crash during the event. This was Poole's Paralympic debut.
"Straddles happen to everyone but it is so annoying for it to happen here," the 18-year-old told .
"It's a massive shame, but it makes me more hungry. It has been the worst-case scenario for me at my first Paralympics but it has given me more inner fire."
