Olympics: Brown rapt with snowboard effort

New Zealand snowboarder Mitchell Brown produced the best performance of his career to finish 25th in the halfpipe event at the Winter Olympics in Italy today.

Brown, of Mt Maunganui, had a cautious first run on the Bardonecchia course in Turin and slipped just before the finish.

His score of 16.3 left him in 33rd position before atoning for his morning glitch with an outstanding second effort that netted him 28.3 points and meant that he finished 25th in the field of 44.

Brown was ranked 39th before the competition, so he made a significant advance.

"I'm super happy, stoked," he said.

"That's the best run I've ever had in the halfpipe. I was a bit nervous in the first run, but on the second one I really went for it.

"I tried a few tricks I've learnt during the week and they worked.

"Competing at the Olympics is a dream for me, so to go out there and nail my second run was awesome."

Brown's sister Kendall, 16, competes in the halfpipe tomorrow, along with New Zealand's No 1 ranked snowboarder, Juliane Bray.

- NZPA