Millie Knight has spent her entire life defying the odds but not even she expected a second Paralympic Winter Games to come around so quickly.

The 19-year-old skier made history four years ago when making her debut at Sochi 2014 aged just 15, the youngest ParalympicsGB competitor in any Games, while she was also flagbearer for the opening ceremony.

A place on the podium wasn’t to come her way in Russia but now having taken her place as Britain’s first snowsport world champion, Knight is a different racer to the one of 2014.

Alongside guide Brett Wild, the pair have struggled to hit the form of Tarvisio 2017 and their world crown so far this season, with Knight suffering concussion following a crash in South Korea.

Off the snow for a few months, that put a place in PyeongChang in serious doubt for the pair, so she was relieved to finally get the nod they feared may not come.

“To be going to my second Games at 19 feels fantastic, and this was a bit of a shock to be selected if I’m honest because we’ve not had the best start to our season,” said the Canterbury teen.

“I feel very lucky to be in this position with a Games already under my belt, having that experience and that knowledge about what it’s going to be like. To be implementing that into this cycle is so invaluable.

“The Games is a very different environment to any other races that we do, it’s much bigger and there’s a lot more media presence.

“All the athletes from across the world are gathered in one place, you’re sat in the dining room and suddenly there’s amazing people all around you, that’s a real eye-opener.

“We’ve had a lot of people getting over us, for me getting over concussion and having that support, we had massive help getting back on snow and getting our ski legs back.”

Knight lost her sight when she was aged six due to an infection, but that didn’t stop her taking to the slopes thanks to her mum’s encouragement, acting as her first guide.

From there the teenager and skis were a partnership that wasn’t to be broken, though she was unable to race competitively until she was 13 – and at a Paralympic Games barely two years later.

Racing at class B2 – the classification between being blind and visually impaired – Knight has operated at full throttle ever since, juggling studies with skiing and her six World Championship medals so far.

And while her maiden Games will also be an experience forever special, it’s a trip to PyeongChang that really has the juices flowing for the Alpine skier.

“We’ve got a lot more to look forward to this time as well,” she says with a smile.

“The technical events were great when I was in Sochi at 15, but now I’m older the speed events are dangerous, fast and I really love them. Downhill is the favourite.

“We don’t like to set ourselves medal targets because we see that as unnecessary pressure.

“We’re going to be standing on the start gate with no regrets, that’s what we’re really trying to do, knowing that we’ve done everything we possibly can to put us in a position where we could win gold.

“We are world champions but that doesn’t really matter when you go into a Paralympics, we’ll be in the start gate having worked hard and we’ll be hoping it pays off once again.”

Sainsbury’s is a proud long-term supporter of the British Paralympic Association and a champion of inclusive sport for all. For more information on Sainsbury’s commitment to inclusive sport visit http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/