Ollie Hill claims historic medal for Great Britain in Beijing Paralympics

Rising temperatures made conditions difficult for all Paralympian snowboarders on Friday, but you’ll hear no complaints from Great Britain’s Ollie Hill.

Hill won the bronze medal in the men’s banked slalom SB-LL2 event. The first ever snowboarding Paralympic medal for Great Britain.

“I can’t really sum it up right now other than I am absolutely stoked,” Hill said after the event.

Making his Paralympic debut, the 32-year-old knew he was playing with house money after his first run time of 1:10.45 was going to guarantee him at least a bronze medal.

The melting snow made it difficult for any snowboarder to improve their time during their second run, as Hill remained in the bronze medal spot.

“I wanted to push for the gold but I felt the second run was a bit slower and the snow was caving in a bit,” he said.

Hill now has a Paralympic bronze medal to add to his World Championship bronze from 2021.

“I didn’t think banked slalom was going to be my thing, but I felt a bit more confidence in it and proved it today.”

China’s Sun Qi won gold with a time of 1:09.73 while Finland’s Matti Suur-Hamari took the silver medal, a quarter of a second behind Sun Qi.