Most families would be proud to have one Olympic athlete in the family – but the Guests have two.
Perth skier Charlie Guest, 28, proved her career was back on track this week after finishing 21st in the women’s slalom at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
And sister Katie, 26, is preparing for next month’s Paralympics, where she will act as a guide to visually-impaired skier Menna Fitzpatrick.
Katie is very much looking forward to the challenge.
“I think Mum and Dad are quite proud they have two Olympic skiing athletes in the family,” she said.
Katie’s role as a guide
Katie thought her competition days were coming to a close when she went off to Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
But a friend recommended her for a role as a guide.
It means she will ski in front of Menna – who has no vision in one eye and only 5% in the other – in a bright orange jacket, while speaking to her through bluetooth devices in their helmets.
“It provided an opportunity for me to continue doing the sport I love while helping someone else to do it,” she said.
“It was a bit of a no-brainer to go down that road when I was asked.”
Katie said that she was just excited to be going to the Paralympics, no matter the outcome.
She said: “It will be a completely new experience – moving to a race at that kind of level.
“It’s going to be amazing no matter what happens.
“If I can do half as well as Charlie, I’ll be one happy girl.”
Skiing is the family bug
Both Katie and Charlie took up skiing after spending their childhood near the Cairngorms visiting their gran.
Brother Chris Guest, 24, said skiing was “the family bug”.
“My Dad’s side of the family were all very much into it,” he said.
“Him and his brothers used to race in events when they were younger.
“My Gran lived up near Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorms. So we spent a lot of weekends up there.”
Chris said he knew Charlie had a real talent for skiing, after joining the children’s GT Team at 14-years-old.
“She was doing a lot of travelling and was at a contest out in Andorra,” he recalled.
“We got a phone call from them about Charlie and we were dreading, like ‘Oh no what has she done?’
“But she had won it, which was completely unheard of at that age level.
“The kids would mostly just go out for the experience but she actually went out there and managed to beat some of the more traditional alpine nations.
“It was just fantastic.”
