Winter Paralympics: Hope Gordon becomes ParalympicsGB's first female Para-nordic skier

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Hope Gordon made history by becoming ParalympicsGB's first female Para-nordic skier at the Beijing Games on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old, who is also a Para-canoeist and Para-swimmer, only took up the event six months ago.

She finished 17th in qualifying in the women's sprint event, with the top 12 going through to the semi-finals.

"It is cool to be the first girl, but the main thing for me is as long as I'm not the last," Gordon told BBC Sport.

"It would be lovely to have more females involved in the sport. Hopefully this can be a platform for the females out there."

Gordon revealed she suffered a heavy fall in her warm-up which forced her to change her approach during the event.

"They changed the course slightly from what we have been practising on, mainly on a corner, which for me is quite a big deal because I'm so new to the sport and corners are quite technical," she said.

"I took quite a big fall in my warm-up which knocked my confidence and I hurt my hand a fair bit. So I was just happy to get physically around the course."

In the men's event, Callum Deboys finished 22nd while Steve Thomas, making his first appearance of the Games, finished 25th.

Thomas, a former Paralympic sailor and Para-ice hockey player, switched to nordic skiing in 2018 after reversing his decision to retire from competitive sport after the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.

"It felt amazing to be on the start line," he said. "It's been a pretty quick journey over the last three years. To go from novice to Paralympian in a different sport has been fantastic."

Elsewhere, Britain's David Melrose had to be taken to hospital after suffering a fall during GB's wheelchair curling defeat by Canada.

Melrose fell from his chair while reaching for a delivery stick, with Gary Smith replacing him on the ice for the remainder of the match.

In a statement, ParalympicsGB confirmed Melrose was conscious but in pain and said further medical checks were being made at the hospital.

Skip Hugh Nibloe's side went on to lose 6-3 to leave GB seventh in the standings, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals.

They take on South Korea later on Wednesday before facing China and Latvia in their final two group-stage matches on Thursday.

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