Scott Meenagh (born 16 September 1989) is a British para Nordic skier and former

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

soldier. Meenagh came second the 12.5km individual biathlon event at the 2023 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, and competed at the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

Early life and Army career

Meenagh is from

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

, Scotland. He played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for Scotland under-18s. Meeangh served in the

Parachute Regiment, and was deployed to Afghanistan. In 2011, he lost both of his legs after stepping on an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

in Helmand Province. He was rehabilitated at

Headley Court Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court (abbreviated to DMRC Headley Court, and more commonly known as Headley Court), formerly RAF Headley Court, was an United Kingdom Ministry of Defence facility in Headley, near Epsom, Surrey, Eng ...

, and now uses

prosthetic limbs In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

. Meenagh was a spectator of the

Paralympic Nordic skiing Paralympic Nordic skiing is a Winter Paralympics sport consisting of biathlon and cross-country skiing. The sport is governed by the International Paralympic Committee, with its subcommittee for Nordic skiing known as World Para Nordic Skiing. Par ...

events 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 ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Russia.

Sports career

Meenagh competed in rowing, and was a captain of the British Army team at the

2014 Invictus Games The first 2014 Invictus Games were held on 10–14 September 2014. Around 300 competitors from 13 countries which have fought alongside the United Kingdom in recent military campaigns participated. These included the United States, Australia, Ca ...

. He failed to qualify for the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

. Meenagh joined the Armed Forces Para Snow Sports team in 2016. Meenagh was selected for the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

, South Korea. He was the first British Nordic skier at a Paralympics for 20 years. He finished 17th in the 15km free cross-country event. In biathlon, he finished 16th in the 7.5km event, 13th in the 12.5km event and 14th in the 15km event. Meenagh was selected for the

. He finished 12th in the 18km classical event, and was part of the first British relay team to finish the 4 × 2.5km relay event at a Paralympics, alongside Steve Arnold, Steve Thomas and

Callum Deboys Callum is a Scottish Gaelic name that commemorates the Latin name Columba, meaning 'dove'. Callum was popular among early Christians because the dove was a symbol of purity, peace and the Holy Spirit. St. Columba was one of the most influential of ...

. Meenagh came second in the 12.5km individual biathlon event at the 2023 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships. He was the first Briton to win a medal at the Championships, and he also finished fourth in the 7.5km individual biathlon event. He was the only British competitor at the Championships.

References

External links

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Scott Meenagh
at

British Rowing British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing (both indoor and on-water rowing). It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews representin ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meenagh, Scott 1989 births Living people Scottish male biathletes Scottish male cross-country skiers Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Biathletes at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Cross-country skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Paralympic cross-country skiers for Great Britain Paralympic biathletes Scottish Paralympic competitors British Parachute Regiment soldiers Sportspeople from North Lanarkshire People from Cumbernauld Scottish male rowers Scottish rugby union players