Rogart para-athlete Hope Gordon to make ski sprint debut at Lillehammer this weekend

Sutherland para-athlete Hope Gordon is set to make her debut this weekend in the World Para Snow Sports Championships in Lillehammer, Norway.

Hope, who comes from West Langwell, Rogart, tried out and was selected for the British team's Nordic skiing squad late last year.

It is a departure for the 26-year-old from the sport in which she has already achieved prominence - canoeing.

She won two silver medals in the KL3 200m Kayak and Va'a races in the 2021 World Canoe Championships.

The selections for the Tokyo Olympics were held in April and Hope just lost out by seconds to her canoeing team mate Laura Sugar, taking reserve place.

GB Snowsport, the national governing body for skiing and snowboarding in the UK, has officially listed Hope, as scheduled to compete in the para nordic cross-country sprint on Saturday, January 22.

British para-athletes have already done well at the Lillehammer championships, with the country's medal tally rising to six on January 17, the sixth day of the competition.

A full-time athlete based at the British canoeing centre in Nottingham, Hope had her left leg amputated as a result of the poorly understood condition Complex Pain Regional Syndrome.

She spent much of lockdown at home in Rogart with her parents John and Rona Gordon.

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