Benjamin "Ben" Sneesby (born 26 June 1994) is a British alpine skier. Sneesby uses a

sit-ski Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the Internat ...

in competitions.

Personal history

Sneesby was born on 26 June 1994 in High Wycombe. At the age of three months he was diagnosed with

neuroblastoma Neuroblastoma (NB) is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue. It most frequently starts from one of the adrenal glands but can also develop in the neck, chest, abdomen, or spine. Symptoms may include bone pain, a lump in the ...

, a childhood cancer. He underwent a course of chemotherapy and several operations, which resulted in the successful treatment of the tumour, but left him with no sensation in his left leg, and only partial feeling in his right leg. Sneesby attended school at

Claires Court School Claires Court School is a 2–18 all-through private day school and sixth form in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. As one of a small number of diamond schools located in the United Kingdom, it is unique in that while its nursery and sixth for ...

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

and

John Hampden Grammar School John Hampden Grammar School (known colloquially as "JHGS") is a selective state boys' grammar school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is named after the local member of parliament and English Civil War commander John Hampden. In J ...

in High Wycombe, but on achieving his A-Levels, decided to defer his degree course to focus on his skiing. He is now studying LLB Law at the University of Leeds.

Sports career

Sneesby began skiing at the age of 11 at adaptive sessions on a dry ski slope in High Wycombe. At the age of 13 he was spotted by the British Disabled Ski Team (BDST) and was offered a place as one of the first members of the BDST youth development squad. As well as showing promise as a skier, Sneesby also showed a talent for wheelchair basketball playing for the MK Aces and captaining the England South Wheelchair Basketball team at the 2013 National School Games. Sneesby decided to focus fully on his skiing and in his first full competitive season in 2010 he recorded four top ten finishes across his events which qualified him to race at Europa Cup level in all five events, including his favoured

Super G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

, Super Combination and

Downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

. In early 2014 it was announced that he had qualified for the Great Britain team that would be competing at the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (russian: Зимние Паралимпийские игры 2014, Zimniye Paralimpiyskiye igry 2014), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an ...

in Sochi, Russia; competing in the sit-ski events. This was his debut Paralympics. In January 2018 Sneesby was selected for the Great Britain Development Team for Wheelchair Tennis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneesby, Ben 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from High Wycombe British male alpine skiers Paralympic alpine skiers for Great Britain Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Paralympics People educated at Claires Court School People educated at John Hampden Grammar School