Menna Fitzpatrick building confidence after opening her Games in Super-G

After two seasons spent battling injury, Menna Fitzpatrick returned to Paralympic slopes in the women’s Super-G VI as she builds confidence at Milano Cortina 2026.

The Para alpine skier is ParalympicsGB’s most decorated skier but has found this Paralympic cycle punctuated by a series of injuries that have made building any consistent form near-impossible.

But Fitzpatrick made it back alongside guide Katie Guest to finish sixth in the Super-G in a time of 1:25.52 as she builds into the Games on the Italian Dolomites.

“Now that I’ve done one, I’m way more excited and confident for the next races,” said the 27-year-old.

“It was definitely a step up from the downhill training runs. I managed to let the skis run a bit more which is a step in the right direction for sure.

“But I was way more confident and just really enjoyed this course.”

To add to her recent injury woes, Fitzpatrick suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in December 2025 which she opted against surgery on to make it to Italy.

And while for many that might signal the end of hopes of a Paralympic tilt, for Fitzpatrick her Games were never in doubt.

“The medical team were really confident, they know me and they know my personality of working really, really hard in the tough times,” she said.

“I don’t think it was much of a question. They had every faith in me that I would be able to get back.”

While it meant that Fitzpatrick was unable to return to competition in January, after returning to the slopes in the Super-G, she has three more events ahead of her where she will be able to build her form.

Just getting to the bottom of the slope was an achievement in itself after her recent injury history, but after a more than respectable sixth place finish there is no doubt she will bid to add to the tally of six Paralympic medals.

“It’s so lovely to actually be out here finally after the last two seasons of being injured. But I had a lot of fun and I’ve got great confidence in the knee itself,” she added.

“Just the girls are skiing really, really well and they’re really pushing the competition, but we’ll slowly get closer and closer. Fingers crossed.”