One of the major successes during the Paralympic Winter Games at Sochi in Russia in March 2014 was achieved by Jade Etherington, a trainee teacher from Bourne who returned home with a record number of four medals.

Jade, 23, a visually impaired skier, won three silver medals and one bronze making her the most decorated British athlete in a single winter Paralympic games. Because of her disability, Jade competes in the visually impaired category and needs a sighted guide, currently Caroline Powell who she found through Facebook and after two other applicants pulled out, Jade and Caroline have competed together since August 2013.

Soon after her return to Bourne, the town council held a special meeting and decided to give Jade the freedom of the parish, an honour available to parish councils since 2009 and the highest the authority can bestow. The council also arranged a civic reception for Jade on Monday 31st March when she was taken on a tour of all the schools in Bourne in a vintage car. She also visited the Deepings School and Baston Primary School which she had previously attended as a pupil.

The freedom ceremony was then held in the Corn Exchange with many invited guests and attended by the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor David Higgs, who presented her with a freedom certificate. “I was privileged to meet Jade and tell her how proud Bourne is of her and her incredible achievement", he said. "She is obviously a talented, dedicated and determined young lady.”

The following week Jade was also taken on an open-top bus tour of Lincoln where she studies at Bishop Grosseteste University and receives funding from the Lincolnshire Elite Athlete Programme run by Lincolnshire Sport in conjunction with Lincolnshire County Council. Chief executive officer of Lincolnshire Sport, Janet Inman, said: “We could not be more proud of Jade and wanted to do something to bring communities together and celebrate her achievements at the Winter Games. She has inspired the whole county, and indeed the whole country, with her history making success. The bus tour was a fantastic way to welcome Jade home and let her know how proud we are of her.”

Jade, who lives in Mountbatten Way, Bourne, was born at Chelmsford on 9th March 1991with Axenfield’s syndrome, a genetic condition that causes fluid blockages in the eye and can lead to total blindness. Her three younger sisters also have the condition. Despite undergoing multiple surgeries as a child, by the age of 17 Jade began to lose her sight which she now describes as "very blurry with little focus" leaving her with only five percent vision in both eyes.

She was educated at the Deepings School, near Bourne before matriculating to Bishop Grosseteste University where she has already been awarded a degree in education and geography, originally intending to become a geography teacher but placed her career on hold to concentrate on the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games.

Jade had begun skiing while still sighted at the age of eight, being taught by her father, Andrew, and her sisters, and continued skiing recreationally for the next ten years. She joined the British Disabled Ski Team (BDST) at development level and began racing internationally in 2011, being inspired to compete at a higher level after watching the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London.

She won a bronze medal at the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in the Super-G before qualifying for the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games, winning silver in the women's downhill skiing, combined and slalom, and bronze medals in the Super-G.

The three silver and one bronze medals have made Jade and Caroline the most successful female British Winter Paralympians of all time whilst also making them the first Britons to win four medals at one Paralympics. Because of this success, Jade was subsequently chosen as the British flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

In 2012, Jade was one of the runners who carried the Olympic torch on its journey through Lincoln and subsequently raised £5,000 in sponsorship towards her trip to Sochi.

In November 2014, Jade announced her retirement from competitive skiing to concentrate on her teaching career, a decision that was endorsed by her sighted guide, Caroline Powell. "It was an honour to represent Paralympics GB but we have both agreed to move on", she said. "We have both immersed ourselves in ski racing for many years but now look forward to achieving our goals in other spheres of life."

Jade now plans to complete her teaching qualifications at the Bishop Grosseteste College in Lincoln and continue her regular motivational speaking engagements while Carole will pursue her career as a ski guide in Switzerland.

REVISED NOVEMBER  2014

NOTE: Photograph shows Jade at the women's visually impaired Super-G event
at the 2013 IPC Alpine World Championships in La Molina, Spain.
Photographed by Laura Hale and reproduced from Wikipedia..