King’s College London student lights Paralympic flame ahead of Winter Games

A King’s College London (KCL) student has lit the Paralympic flame ahead of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

Mille Knight, a first year physiotherapy masters student at King’s, ignited the flame at the origin of the Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville earlier today alongside Andrea Macrì, captain of the Italian Para Ice Hockey national team.

The flame will now be transported 2,000 km and carried by a total of 501 torchbearers across Europe to Italy, for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. 

Speaking about the experience, Millie said: “It is such a privilege to kick start the games at this special place”. 

Despite Millie making her Paralympic debut at the age of just 15 and winning three medals at the Pyongchang Paralympic Winter Games in 2018, she revealed her course mates and lecturers were unaware that she is a Paralympian.

She explained: “I’m not really one to celebrate myself, so my course lecturers at King’s were rather shocked when I said I couldn’t make a meeting due to lighting the Paralympic flame! My course mates were also unaware of my achievements until the news broke.”

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Millie and Andrea holding the torch

Having lost the majority of her sight at a young age, Millie took on skiing with her mum as a guide, who will be watching her light the flame.

Since retiring from skiing in 2023, Millie began martial arts and was selected to represent England in both taekwondo and karate. She later became World Champion in taekwondo and  Commonwealth champion in karate. 

Millie also reflected on balancing life as both a student and athlete, explaining: “It’s not easy balancing my studies with my martial arts competing and teaching, but it’s a lot easier than travelling abroad for skiing competitions while in the middle of my GCSEs!”

She added: “I’m also really enjoying living in London while studying at King’s – though it’s very different to my rural upbringing. I regularly go to the theatre, it’s become another passion of mine.”

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