S2 Ep1633: Celebrating 50years of the Winter Paralympic Games with Mike Brace CBE DL

With 2026 marking the 50th anniversary of the first ever Winter Paralympic Games held in Sweden in February 1976 with teams of blind and partially sighted athletes competing in both alpine and nordic skiing for the first time too here on RNIB Connect Radio’s we thought it would be a good time to look back on that very first Winter Paralympic Games and find out what it was like taking part in the games for the first time as a visually impaired Paralympian.RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey caught up with Mike Brace CBE DL who was there along with five other young visually impaired athletes competing for Great Britain at that very first Winter Paralympic Games.Mike began by telling Toby about how the opportunity came about for him to compete as a blind person in that very first Winter Paralympic Games plus what the training was like to get him and the other visually impaired skiers ready for the games.Mike then talked about how the games have evolved over the last 50 years from his view point competing as a blind skier in that first ever Winter Paralympic Games, managing the great British Paralympic Cross-Country Ski Team from 1988 to 1994, Chef de Mission for the Great British Team at the Winter Paralympic Games, Director of ParalympicsGB and being involved in bringing the summer Olympics and Paralympic Games to London in 2012.Mike ended by reflecting on the great success of the Paralympics GB visually impaired skiers over recent years winning many medals, how with the right support and opportunities blind and partially sighted people can achieve so much in sport at whatever level to finally thoughts on the legacy of both the Winter and Summer Paralympic Games.To find out more about Paralympics GB and opportunities to get involved in some of the Paralympic sports do visit - https://paralympics.org.ukAnd for more about other opportunities to get into sport as a visually impaired person do visit the British Blind Sport website - https://britishblindsport.org.uk