Shona Brownlee

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 1979) is a British skier and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Corporal. She won two medals at the

2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships The 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships was an international disability sport competition held in Lillehammer, Norway from 8 to 23 January 2022. It was the inaugural edition of the World Para Snow Sports Championships with para-alpine skiin ...

, and competed at the

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

Brownlee is from

Livingston, West Lothian Livingston ( sco, Leivinstoun, gd, Baile Dhunlèibhe) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated ...

, Scotland. She attended Carmondean Primary School and

Deans Community High School Deans Community High School is a secondary school, secondary level school, in Deans, Livingston, West Lothian, Livingston, Scotland. The school opened in 1978, and is Coeducational, co-educational, with 1279 pupils. Feeder schools Until Octobe ...

. She has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in music from

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides professional education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly res ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

RAF career

Bronwlee joined the

in 2012. That year, she injured her ankle in training, which later developed into

complex regional pain syndrome Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is any of several painful conditions that are characterized by a continuing (spontaneous and/or evoked) regional pain that is seemingly disproportionate in time or degree to the usual course of any known trau ...

. In 2018, she had a leg amputation. Brownlee has been a member of the

Central Band of the Royal Air Force The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is an RAF regular band and is part of Royal Air Force Music Services. The motto of the band is ''Aere Invicti'' (Latin for "Invincible with the Brass"). History The Central Band of the RAF was formed in ...

; she plays the

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. Prior to her amputation, she was unable to be part of the

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

due to her injury.

Sports career

Brownlee started skiing in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany in 2018. She later became part of the Armed Forces Para Snowsport Team, and in 2019, she raised £50,000 for charity through the organisation. Brownlee was added to the GB Snowsport squad for the 2021–22 season. As of 2021, she had won 25 medals in Europa and North American Cup, including 11 gold medals, and she was the British champion in all

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

sitting category event. As of December 2021, she was also the highest ranked British skier, and the ninth best in the world. At the

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, Norway, Brownlee came second in the women's super-G event, and third in the giant slalom event. She was the first Briton to win a medal at the championships. In the same year, she competed at the British Para-Triathlon Championships, winning a silver medal. In February 2022, Brownlee was confirmed in the British team for the

. It was her first

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

, and she was one of 14 Scottish athletes competing. Brownlee came sixth in the super-G sitting event. Sitting in 5th place after the super-G, she did not finish the slalom run of the super combined sitting event, and came ninth in both the giant slalom sitting and slalom sitting events.

Honours

In November 2021, Brownlee was named the RAF Sportswoman of the Year. She was made an

in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brownless, Shona 1979 births Living people Scottish female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Paralympic alpine skiers for Great Britain Scottish Paralympic competitors Sportspeople from Livingston, West Lothian Arizona State University alumni Alumni of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire 21st-century Royal Air Force personnel Women in the Royal Air Force Members of the Order of the British Empire