Mills has embraced many challenges in recent years

Charity campaigner and former model Heather Mills has been offered a place in the development squad of the British disabled ski team for a trial period.

The ex-wife of Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney lost part of her left leg in an accident in 1993.

She is hoping to reach the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.

"Heather is only at the first stage of a journey that we hope will lead to her becoming a full squad member," said team manager Dave Chugg.

"She has made clear her ambition to represent Great Britain in adaptive ski racing and approached the British disabled ski team to try out for our development squad.

"At a recent assessment in an indoor ski slope, she demonstrated that she responds well to coaching and is capable of adapting her skiing in response to coaching direction.

"During the trial period with the development squad she will have the opportunity to develop her skills and follow a set programme both inside and outside of our squad setting.

"This will allow us to judge her progression from her current standard of being a very good recreational skier towards becoming a racer.

"At the end of that trial period we will make a further assessment based on how far she has improved and on her comparative performance with established racers and other development skiers.

"She has been invited onto the development team for the trial period because she is outside the usual age and ski profile for the team. However, she has shown good levels of fitness and determination."

It is the latest challenge for the 42-year-old who has competed on ITV's Dancing On Ice show and also on the US version of Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With The Stars.

But despite her fame, Chugg has insisted that Mills will not receive any special treatment.

"When working with our squads, Heather will be treated the same as any other team member in terms of our expectations on and off the slope," he said.

"But she will also be able to work hard with personal coaching when away from the squads."

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