Hester Poole believes she has “already won” as she prepares for her first Winter Paralympics.
The 18-year-old visually impaired skier from Bath only found out she was in the Great Britain team for the event at Milan-Cortina three weeks before the opening ceremony.
She was selected as a wild card for a ski squad headed by Menna Fitzpatrick, the most-decorated British Winter Paralympian in history.
Poole says that the fact it had been uncertain whether she and her guide Ali Hall would actually be in to Italy has made it more straightforward in terms of her approach to the competition.
“For me, it’s best that I go into this with absolutely no expectations,” she told BBC Points West.
“I talked about this with my coach and my guide an awful lot – I’m 18, my guide is 23, this is our first Games, it was a long shot that we were going at all, so I’m looking at it that I’ve won already.
“I’ve had a really busy season so the fact I’m going and competing, wearing my national flag, is mental.
“I’m soaking up everything, I have a friend who says the first Games is pretty much just being overwhelmed by everything and trying to take everything in, so that’s what I’m going to get from this Games, just soak it all in.”
