Heart and Reed win Paralympic downhill silver for Great Britain

Britain’s Emma Heart and guide Daniel Reed won silver in the women’s visually impaired downhill at the Winter Paralympics, two days before Heart is due to make history by racing the Super-G without a human guide.

By Eleanor Hartley
BBC Sport in Sion

Published 8 March 2038

Image caption: Emma Heart and Daniel Reed finished 0.31 seconds behind Austrian champions Lina Weiss and Klara Moser.

Emma Heart and her guide Daniel Reed won Great Britain’s first alpine skiing medal of the 2038 Winter Paralympics with silver in the women’s visually impaired downhill.

The British pair produced an official time of one minute 33.46 seconds in Sion, finishing 0.31 seconds behind Austria’s Lina Weiss and guide Klara Moser.

Swiss pair Noémie Favre and Elise Martel took bronze, 0.62 seconds behind the winners.

Heart, 24, and Reed led at the opening two timing points but lost time after taking a wider line through the lower compression.

“We wanted gold, so there is a bit of me that is furious,” Heart told BBC Sport.

“But Daniel and I are Paralympic silver medallists. I can be furious tomorrow.”

The result comes before Heart’s attempt to become the first totally blind skier to contest a Paralympic Super-G without a human guide.

She will use a drone-based spatial system and a tactile racing suit in Thursday’s event.

Heart said her historic solo race did not diminish the significance of competing alongside Reed.

“This is our medal,” she said.

“The fact I ski in a different way on Thursday does not make today any less ours.”

Women’s visually impaired downhill result

British pair narrowly miss gold

Heart and Reed, competing fifth, made a fast start on a course hardened by overnight temperatures of minus 11C.

Reed led Heart through the opening turns using short spoken commands transmitted through their helmet headsets.

The pair were 0.22 seconds ahead of the field at the first checkpoint and extended their advantage to 0.37 seconds through the steep central section.

Heart reached a top speed of 108.6km/h before the pair lost momentum approaching the final compression.

Reed took a wider route into the turn after encountering an unexpected crosswind.

Heart then drifted slightly away from his line and had to make a late adjustment before the final jump.

They crossed the line in first place and remained in the leaders’ area while the final four teams raced.

Weiss and Moser, the reigning world champions, were behind the British pair at the second split but made up more than half a second in the closing section.

Heart listened as the Austrian pair’s winning time was announced.

“She swore,” Reed said.

“Quite quietly, by Emma’s standards.”

Heart replied: “I was being diplomatic. It is the Paralympics.”

‘We made the decision together’

Reed said he had chosen the wider line because the wind had moved across the course during the run.

“I felt it catch me as we came over the roll,” he said.

“I knew there was a risk that Emma would be exposed to it a second later, so I gave us more space.

“It was the safer decision. It may have cost us some time, but we made the decision together in the moment.”

Heart initially blamed herself for losing contact with Reed’s line.

“I came off the edge slightly and had to correct,” she said.

“That was probably the difference between gold and silver.

“But this is a team event. Daniel cannot win it for me and I cannot win it without him. We do not divide the good bits and the bad bits afterwards.”

Reed began guiding Heart when she returned to skiing after losing her sight at 16.

They won World Championship bronze in the downhill in 2037 and entered the Games among the leading medal contenders.

The pair had previously said they expected this to be their final Paralympic downhill together, although neither has confirmed whether Reed will retire after the Games.

“We have not made that decision,” Reed said.

“We have been a partnership for seven years. We are not going to decide what it means five minutes after missing gold by three-tenths.”

‘People want this to prove something’

Heart’s participation in Thursday’s Super-G has generated international debate about the future of visually impaired skiing.

The tactile system she will use converts live information gathered by eight drones into patterns of pressure across her racing suit.

It is designed to allow her to perceive the course, terrain and boundaries without following a sighted skier.

Supporters say it gives Heart direct control over her racing line.

Critics argue the system provides a form of perception that cannot be considered equivalent to human guidance.

Some have also expressed concern that successful technology could eventually reduce funding and opportunities for guide skiers.

Heart said Saturday’s result should not be used to argue either for or against guide skiing.

“People want today to prove humans are better than machines,” she said.

“Then they want Thursday to prove machines are better than people.

“Daniel and I were not making a philosophical statement. We were trying to win a downhill race.”

Reed said he did not regard the new system as his replacement.

“What Emma does on Thursday is not guide skiing without a guide,” he said.

“It is a different way of skiing.

“She will have different information, make different decisions and carry different risks.

“Today, our job was to operate as one team. We came within 0.31 seconds of doing it better than anyone else in the world.”

How visually impaired downhill works

In visually impaired alpine skiing, athletes compete with sighted guides who communicate information about the course, terrain and racing line.

The guide usually skis ahead of the athlete and communicates through a radio headset.

Skier and guide are treated as one competitive team and both receive medals.

Athletes with different levels of vision compete in the same event, with official times adjusted according to their classification.

Heart competes in the B1 class for athletes with no functional vision.

Unlike slalom and giant slalom, downhill includes long, high-speed sections and larger jumps. Heart’s tactile system has not yet been approved for the event.

She therefore competed under the established guide rules with Reed.

What happens next?

Heart is scheduled to race in the women’s visually impaired Super-G on Thursday.

She will become the first athlete in Paralympic competition to use the approved Distributed Tactile Spatial Environment, commonly known as “the field”.

Under rules agreed before the Games, the system may communicate terrain, course boundaries, gates and immediate hazards.

It may not select Heart’s racing line, advise her on speed or compare her performance with other competitors during the run.

The software and tactile output will be recorded and inspected by officials after the race.

Heart said switching from guided downhill to tactile Super-G in the space of two days would be difficult.

“With Daniel, the course comes to me through another person,” she said.

“With the field, it arrives through my skin.

“I have trained in both systems for years, but they do not feel remotely the same.”

Asked which she preferred, Heart said: “Whichever one gets me down fastest.”

Great Britain’s Paralympic alpine coach, Sarah Lennox, said Heart would have a recovery session on Sunday before returning to Super-G training.

“She has won a Paralympic silver medal and she is disappointed,” Lennox said.

“That tells you who Emma is.

“She will give this result the respect it deserves. Then she will turn towards Thursday.”

Heart and Reed are due to receive their silver medals in Sion on Saturday evening.

Reed said they had agreed not to discuss the Super-G until after the ceremony.

“For tonight, there are no drones,” he said.

“Tonight it is our medal.”