Heading into the Milan-Cortina Paralympics, which start on Friday, Sparks is a four-time World Cup and two-time World Championship medallist across the LL2 snowboarding events, for athletes with a lower limb impairment with less activity limitation than their LL1 counterparts.
Because of her MS, a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, she uses an orthotic to walk and competes with an ankle foot orthosis in her boot.
“The biggest thing for me is that I now need to nap, every day, without fail,” she says.
“We come in from the mountain and I’m straight to bed.
“Some days, I may be able to do five runs, some days I may be able to do 25 runs, maybe the next day I need an extra day off because I’m super tired. Quality over quantity, is what one of my coaches says a lot.”
Sparks is joined by fellow snowboarders James Barnes-Miller, Ollie Hill, Matt Hamilton and Davy Zyw in the 25-strong ParalympicsGB squad.
On 14 March, she will compete in the women’s LL2 banked slalom, a technical discipline raced against the clock on a course of tight turns.
“In our sport, a big thing is just showing up. We often have really small numbers in our competitions, just because worldwide there aren’t many women with disabilities involved in Para-snowboarding,” Sparks says.
“Certainly I’m not going to be the only woman making history for their nation at these Games. So showing up and giving it a go is half the battle.
“It’s going to be amazing, I’m going to be super nervous as well. This has been a huge journey and I hope my journey is going to go on beyond Milan-Cortina, but it’s going to be a huge milestone.”
