Heather Mills Sochi Paralympics: Mills' Hot Headed Attack on Paralympic Official Costs Her an Arm and a Leg
Heather Mills, the ex-wife of Beatles star Paul McCartney, has retired from the British Disabled Ski Team after a reported violent outburst by the athlete and former model. Mills, 45, had high hopes of competing as a skier for the Brits at the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia this March. She had been training for the competition since 2010. Yet, the International Paralympic Committee dashed Mills's dreams of competing this past Monday and that decision reportedly set Mills off.
Mills was eligible to compete in the games because she was an amputee. In 1993, she was involved in a collision with a police motorcycle that left her seriously injured. As a result of the trauma, Mills's left leg had to be amputated below the knee. She turned her misfortune around and started a charity called the Heather Mills Health Trust. The charity campaigns to remove and ban land mines around the world and also helps amputees afford prosthetic limbs. Her charitable nature would arguably make her a nice person, yet finds herself in hot water.
But what did Mills do to get banned from competition? She wasn't found to be doping or doing anything illegal at all. Instead, the IPC simply ruled part of Mills's equipment was ineligible because it was not on the approved equipment list. Ski Committee Chairperson Sylvana Mestre was the recipient of Mill's harsh words and assault after word of the ban came down. IPC's director of communications, Craig Spence, told the UK Press Association what Mills said.
"She was screaming, 'you're a bitch, you're a bitch, you don't know who I am, I'm going to make your life miserable.'
Sylvana Mestre also was interviewed about the incident by BBC Sport and seemed bewildered about the odd series of events.
"I was trying to explain to her that this is not the equipment we approved earlier in the year and then that was it, she exploded," Mestre tells BBC Sport. "She jumped on me. She started to say I was a bitch. She grabbed me from the back and she started to say that 'you don't know who I am, I will make your life miserable.' I don't understand the reaction."
Of course, Mills denies the allegations. Her coach John Clark even plans to file a formal complaint again Mestre. Clark went on to add that there was a vendetta against Mills.
What do you think? Is Heather Mills psychotic or is this incident just being blown out of proportion? Let us know in the comments section below?