Davy Zyw, a 38-year-old Edinburgh snowboarder, has defied a motor neurone disease diagnosis to become what is believed to be the first snowsport athlete with MND to compete at the Winter Paralympics. The wine merchant was told he had two to three years to live when diagnosed in 2018.

Despite a career-ending knee injury that prevented his professional snowboarding ambitions, Zyw rediscovered his passion following his MND diagnosis. He only decided to compete in the Games in winter 2024, financing his journey through crowdfunding and employer support to make the Milan-Cortina Games.

"There's like a tragic beauty in this situation," Zyw said, explaining that competition brings him freedom from his disability. "When I'm dropping in, when I'm strapping, when I'm in the starting gate, MND is, it might be the reason I'm there, but it couldn't be further removed from what I'm thinking about in that moment."