Hall realises Paralympic dream

Wanaka-based skier Adam Hall has faced a mountain of adversity during his life, so when he fell yesterday during the pinnacle event of his career there was little surprise that he quickly bounced back up to win.

The 22-year-old was skiing for gold at the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver when disaster struck.

In his second run of the men's standing slalom event, Hall, who has spina bifida, fell. It looked to have crushed his 15-year dream to win gold.

But the determined Outram-born-and-raised athlete got back to his feet and produced a startling second half of the run.

As he crossed the finish line he looked up at the scoreboard to the realisation that he had just become the first New Zealander to win a Winter Paralympics gold medal.

Hall had a combined time of 1min 45.97sec over the two runs. That was half a second quicker than second-placed Gerd Schonfelder, of Germany, who was Hall's boyhood hero.

"I can't explain it, I'm wordless. It's been a 15-year dream to come here and win a gold medal," an ecstatic Hall said after the race.

"To cross the finish line and see my name and country on top of the scoreboard was unbelievable," he said.

The gold medal-winning effort was made even more special for Hall, whose mother and grandfather were in Vancouver from Dunedin to witness the special moment.

Hall was ranked second in the world leading into the Winter Paralympics and was confident he was on track for success after a good 12-month buildup.

"You don't just come here to get second or third," he said.

While Hall celebrated the success yesterday the focus will need to quickly shift to tomorrow, when he will compete in the giant slalom. On Sunday he will also compete in the Super G event, with the super combined contest on Monday.

Hall is one of two Kiwis competing in Vancouver. The other is Peter Williams.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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