Kiwi Paralympian "wordless" after crashing to gold medal win

Southland Times

GOLD MEDAL: Adam Hall, a gold medal winner for New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics, skies at Cardrona, Wanaka, in 2009.

Kiwi Hall wins Paralympic gold medal

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New Zealand paralympic skier Adam Hall has recovered from a fall in his second race to win gold in the standup slalom at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Games.

Hall blitzed the field at Whistler Creekside in 50.95 seconds on his first run, 2.13 seconds faster than the next competitor.

He sealed gold in his second run, but looked devastated when he thought his fall had cost him gold.

He scarmbled up to finish the run, then looked disbelieving when the results board showed he had won the gold.

Hall said he was "wordless".

Speaking on Sky Sport, Hall said it was culmination of four years work.

"I can't explain it really, I'm wordless, its unbelievable, going to take a long time to sink in.

"To pick up the gold medal s unbelievable."

New Zealand team chef de mission Jon Turnbull described Hall's gold medal performance as "pretty mind-blowing".

"It got a bit sketchy on his second run but fortunately he had enough on the first run. It's just fantastic," Turnbull told Stuff.co.nz from Vancouver.

Turnbull said while a couple of Hall's competitors would be disappointed with their efforts he had done enough on the day and that was all that mattered.

He felt Hall had copped well with the pressure of being one of the race favourites.

"Adam's ranking was high that everywhere we go within this sport he is known and talked about. He handled that pressure very well.

"He's the ultimate professional with his preparation and he has been rewarded."

Turnbull said Hall had got plenty of vocal support as he charged to victory.

"The support here is pretty similar to New Zealand's size on the globe but they can make a lot of noise."

Hall, 21, from Otago, with a world ranking of two in the event, was ahead of his nearest rival Cameron Rahles-Rahbula of Australia in the first round.

The second run was almost disaster as he came to grief midway through it, but such was his time gap on the field he was able to recover and still win with a total elaped time of 1:45.40

German Gerd Schonfelder was second in 1:45.97 and Rahles-Rahbula third.

New Zealand last won a medal at a Paralympics Winter Games in 2002 at Salt Lake City

Hall had said after the first run he was not getting carried away, despite his excellent first effort.

"It was good. The conditions have been really tough, mentally and physically," he said.

"It's a two-run race. It's not just one race, so after the first run it doesn't mean anything."

-with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News