FORMER Bournemouth School for Girls student Jennifer Kehoe is keen to learn the lessons of fellow alpine skier Dave Ryding in her bid for Paralympic glory.

A stunning World Cup season featuring 10 medals with Menna Fitzpatrick means the Shropshire skier heads to PyeongChang as more than a medal hope, particularly with five shots at glory on the slopes.

It starts with tomorrow’s downhill before the Super-G, super combined, slalom and giant slalom follow for the visually impaired duo in a hectic nine days of action.

But with expectation growing, Kehoe is keen to heed the advice of Olympian Ryding, who missed out on the podium but registered Great Britain’s best alpine finish for 30 years when coming ninth.

“I was reading an interview with Dave," said Kehoe. "He said he somewhat under-estimated the pressure of the Olympics which influenced his performance so, for us, it’s important to know we’re doing what we do every day.

“We have five events so it does take a bit of pressure off. That’s not to say we’re going to taking anything easier but if you are only racing in one, you have to throw everything at that.

“It’s a lot to weigh on your shoulders but instead we can have a calmer head.

“For us, this is just another competition. It’s got the glitz and glamour of a Paralympics and the whole world is watching but the approach for us on race day is to go up there, put our boots and suits on and treat it as just another race.”

Kehoe and Fitzpatrick’s preparations for tomorrow have been thwarted slightly by the weather, ruling out the chance of training runs on the snow either yesterday or today.

But with one session already under their belts – registering the second-fastest time in the process – the experience they’ve waited for has finally arrived.

For Royal Engineers captain Kehoe, that’s a feeling that has taken longer to materialise than most.

Her Paralympics debut was set to come four years ago in Sochi, only for injury to nullify her chances of competing with Millie Knight, a British team-mate also vying for medals in PyeongChang.

Yet with the moment now here – and the team’s welcome ceremony into the athletes’ village now completed – the 36-year-old is no longer looking back.

“It’s really nice to be welcomed beautifully by the Koreans, we got dragged in to a lot of dancing but it was great fun,” added the World Championship bronze medallist.

“It’s been such a long time getting here, so much training and preparation has gone into making this possible so it is such a big relief to finally be standing in the Paralympic village.

“We’ve had some training and it’s about learning about what the line is and, at times, testing it right to the limits, but it was strong, we’re feeling confident and ready to go and it’s finally here.

“I’m so grateful to be here, particularly to be here with Menna because we’ve had some huge ups and downs, it is a dream come true to be here and I know that we’ve got a great opportunity to go and do well based on how close we are.”

Sainsbury’s is a proud long-term supporter of the British Paralympic Association and a champion of inclusive sport for all. For more information on Sainsbury’s commitment to inclusive sport, visit http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/