A DISABLED ice skater from Keighley will be the first person from Yorkshire to represent Great Britain at the Winter Special Olympics next year.

Jenny Lee, 19, will be the first person from the county to represent her country at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria in March next year.

She was also selected to represent the Special Olympics at the Sports Personality of the Year awards which took place in Birmingham on Sunday.

She has a learning disability and is hearing impaired, and Jenny’s mother Helena Lee said when her daughter was younger she was told she may never walk.

Last weekend she took part in Bradford Ice Skating Club’s Christmas show, Mary Poppins, and she is a member of Bradford Disability Sport.

On Sunday she travelled to the Sports Personality awards with her father, Adam Lee, where she brushed shoulders with superstar Paralympic athletes such as Kadeena Cox and Dame Sarah Storey, and former Bradford Grammar School pupil and Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee.

With only three months left of training before the Winter Games, Helena said her daughter’s training is going well.

She said: “Jenny is training two or three times a week around her college work, so it’s all going really well at the moment.

“Taking part in the Skating Club’s Christmas show was a great experience for her.

“During the interval she was able to display her programme which she will be performing in Austria, which was well received by the audience. A lot of them didn’t know what the Special Olympics was about beforehand, and they were all really supportive.

“It also gave her the opportunity to get used to performing in front of an audience, and to have the ice to herself rather than having to swerve around other people.”

Jenny will also be skating at Bradford Ice Arena in a gala on Sunday, January 8, to raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, where she will be performing her programme.

Her programme includes two performances, one displaying different elements and moves, and another which is being performed to Colours of the Wind from the film Pocahontas.

“Jenny is very excited about meeting up with the team and going out to Austria,” said Mrs Lee.

“She has loved ice skating and dancing ever since she was little.

“You can see how much she loves doing it when you watch her in action.”

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