Her first Paralympic Winter Games may have been all about the experience but visually-impaired skier Millie Knight has every intention of leading from the front this time next year in PyeongChang.

Today (March 9) marks the one year to go milestone until the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games get underway in PyeongChang, with Knight among those hoping to be on the plane to South Korea next year.

Aged 15, she became the youngest ParalympicsGB competitor at any Winter Paralympics when she competed at Sochi 2014 and was also handed the honour of being the flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

Fifth-place finishes would duly follow in the slalom and giant slalom but since then Knight has gone on to be a regular visitor to the international podium alongside her guide Brett Wild.

Back in January, she enjoyed one of her greatest successes so far when she was crowned downhill champion at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships before picking up further silvers in the combined and giant slalom disciplines.

And the 18-year-old insists she is right on track for further success 12 months out from PyeongChang.

“It makes it really real when you start talking about days to go rather than years to go. It really does feel like Sochi was only yesterday but three years have passed,” she said.

“I definitely think we are in a good place going into the Paralympic Games next year. There are always things to improve but we are working on them.

“I was just 15 at Sochi but the experience was invaluable and it was just amazing. It’s put me in a really good place for next year as I know what to expect.

"Carrying the flag into the stadium in front of so many people was such an honour and also crossing the finish line after my second run in the slalom.

“I was not expecting the attention that we got, but to have that attention on Paralympic sport was amazing and hopefully it can be the same next year.

“The guys in Rio helped to put ParalympicsGB even more on the map and we want to carry that on.”

Despite juggling training with school work, Knight is one of Britain’s leading para-alpine skiers, winning 11 medals – seven of them gold – on the World Cup circuit in recent months.

Her World Championship medal tally stands at five – with giant slalom silver and slalom bronze also coming in 2015 where she was too young to compete in the speed events.

Downhill gold in January came after she edged out Slovakian five-time Paralympic champion Henrieta Farkasova by 1.2 seconds.

And Knight admitted beating the reigning Paralympic champion a year before the Games had left her full of self-belief.

“Getting gold at the World Championships was incredible, you train day in day out for it and so to achieve it was pretty special,” she added.

“Henrieta is such an amazing skier so to beat her at the World Championships was very special.

“She is so good and just pushes me on to improve. Getting the two silvers as well was very pleased and was a real confidence boost ahead of next year.

“I definitely have room to improve though, and between now and next year it will be about getting miles under my feet alongside my guide Brett.

“Obviously the aim is gold but we don’t want to get too distracted by that and the pressure of that, we’re taking each race as it comes, putting in the training between now and then.”

To follow and support British athletes ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics, visitparalympics.org.uk or follow @ParalympicsGB on Twitter