Shona Brownlee MBE (born 1979)[1] is a British skier and Royal Air Force Corporal. She won two medals at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships, and competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1979 (age 44–45) Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland | |||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Alpine skiing | |||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Paralympic finals | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
| World finals | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
Brownlee is from Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland.[2] She attended Carmondean Primary School and Deans Community High School. She has a bachelor's degree in music from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and a master's degree from Arizona State University.[3]
RAF career
Bronwlee joined the Royal Air Force in 2012.[3][4] That year, she injured her ankle in training, which later developed into complex regional pain syndrome.[2] In 2018, she had a leg amputation.[3]
Brownlee has been a member of the Central Band of the Royal Air Force;[5] she plays the French horn and piano.[2] Prior to her amputation, she was unable to be part of the marching band due to her injury.[6]
Sports career
Brownlee started skiing in Bavaria, Germany in 2018.[3] She later became part of the Armed Forces Para Snowsport Team,[5] and in 2019, she raised £50,000 for charity through the organisation.[5]
Brownlee was added to the GB Snowsport squad for the 2021–22 season.[7] As of 2021, she had won 25 medals in Europa and North American Cup, including 11 gold medals, and she was the British champion in all alpine skiing sitting category event.[3] As of December 2021, she was also the highest ranked British skier, and the ninth best in the world.[5] At the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, Brownlee came second in the women's super-G event,[4] and third in the giant slalom event.[8] She was the first Briton to win a medal at the championships.[2] In the same year, she competed at the British Para-Triathlon Championships, winning a silver medal.[1]
In February 2022, Brownlee was confirmed in the British team for the 2022 Winter Paralympics.[9][10] It was her first Paralympic Games,[9] and she was one of 14 Scottish athletes competing.[11] Brownlee came sixth in the super-G sitting event.[12] Sitting in 5th place after the super-G, she did not finish the slalom run of the super combined sitting event,[13] and came ninth in both the giant slalom sitting[14] and slalom sitting events.[15]
Honours
In November 2021, Brownlee was named the RAF Sportswoman of the Year.[2][3] She was made an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours.[5][10]