Aberdeen skier Katie Guest ruled out of Paralympics after testing positive for Covid-19

Aberdeen skier Katie Guest has been ruled out of the Winter Paralympics after testing positive for Covid, less than 72 hours before departing for Beijing.

Robert Gordon University physiotherapy Masters student Guest, whose sister Charlie skied at last month’s Olympics in China, has been replaced by Gary Smith.

Guest had been due to team up with visually impaired alpine skier Menna Fitzpatrick at the Games which officially open on Friday.

Fitzpatrick was a star at the last Winter Paralympics, which took place in PyeongChang, South Korea. The Macclesfield athlete, then guided by Jennifer Kehoe, returned with four medals, including slalom gold.

Phil Smith, ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission said: “I’m devastated for Katie who will no longer travel to Beijing 2022 as I know how excited she was about the prospect of competing at her first Paralympic Games, after all the hard work she had put in to make the team.

“I know the entire ParalympicsGB team wish her well and will do all they can to give her plenty to cheer about back home.”