James Whitley

Para Alpine Skiing

Region

Wilmington, East Sussex
Date of Birth

17/11/1997
Classification

Standing

Bio

James, who was born without both hands, started skiing on family holidays as a young child - but the sport truly became a passion after he met Nick Webborn, ParalympicsGB’s Chief Medical Officer at London 2012, during rehabilitation after suffering serious injuries in a boating accident. In 2013 he competed at his first World Championship in La Molina, Spain, where he finished 16th in giant slalom. A year later he made his debut for ParalympicsGB at Sochi 2014 where he produced confident performances in the technical events, ranking 14th in the giant slalom and 15th in the slalom.

Since then, key achievements have included top-ten finishes at the World Championships as well as multiple Europa Cup titles.

At the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games James finished in the top ten in both the downhill and slalom races and also competed in the giant slalom, super-G and super combined.

After PyeongChang, James stepped back from the sport to go to university, but still produced some great results at the 2019 World Championships in Kranjska Gora and Sella Nevea including 5th in Super-Combined and 8th in Slalom.

James returned to the team in 2021 at the delayed 2021 World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, finishing just outside the top 10 in Slalom and Downhill, and in the top 20 in Giant Slalom and Super-G.

At Beijing 2022 James excelled, recording his best-ever finish at a Paralympic Games with sixth in the highly competitive men’s giant slalom standing which featured over 40 skiers.

In his spare time James is also a passionate sports car racer with his sights set on Le Mans.

Major results

2022 Beijing Paralympic Games

Giant Slalom:6th

Slalom: 8th

Downhill: 9th

Super-G: 19th

2018 PyeongChang Paralympic Games

Downhill: 10th

Slalom: 10th

Giant Slalom: 11th

Super-G: 22nd

Super Combined: 11th

2014 Sochi Paralympic Games

Giant slalom: 14th

Slalom: 15th

2021 World Championships, Lillehammer, Norway

Downhill: 13th

Super-G: 17th

Giant Slalom: 18th

Slalom: 11th

2019 World Championships, Italy/Slovenia

Super Combined: 5th

Slalom: 8th

Super-G: 10th

Giant Slalom: 13th

Downhill: 14th

2017 World Championships, Tarvisio, Italy

Slalom: 7th

2015 World Championships, Panorama, Canada

Slalom: 9th

2013 World Championships, La Molina, Spain

Giant slalom:16th

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