Paralympics: Skier turns bold prediction into gold

Those who were at the New Zealand skiing awards night in July will remember Adam Hall's acceptance speech after winning the athlete of the year honour.

"Here's to March next year. We'll see you then with a gold medal around my neck," he said that night in Wanaka.

He backed his prediction by winning the standing-slalom gold at the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver yesterday.

And there's a fair chance a toast or two was being proposed in Outram last night to the Otago township's latest hero.

The 22-year-old from Outram - about 25km inland from Dunedin, population around 600 - has his sights on more success with the Super G and Super combined events to follow at the weekend.

Slalom is his specialty, but Hall, who has spina bifida, rates a decent chance to leave Canada with more than one gong in his pocket.

He's vowed to keep his feet on the ground, once he's done celebrating with family and friends.

His is New Zealand's first Paralympic medal since Salt Lake City in 2002, when Rachael Battersby won three golds, and Steve Bayley a gold and two bronzes.

Hall had a sizzling first run yesterday, clocking 50.95s, to give himself a 2.1s cushion ahead of the second, decisive run. Then, drama. On the lower half of the course, Hall slipped and had to readjust. For a moment it seemed the gold had been cruelly ripped away.

But he recovered, got to the finish, twisted Around to look at the board, and after a moment it registered.

Hall flung his arms in the air. He had hung on to win by a mere 0.57s from German Gerad Schonfelder, who clocked 1m 45.40s, with Australian Cameron Rahles-Rahbula third.

"I got to the bottom of the last pitch and had a bit of a hiccup," Hall told the Herald from Whistler last night.

"The snow slipped away from me. It was a bit softer and I did a bit of a hip check. I got back on the horse and pushed as hard as I possibly could to the finish line and whatever was going to happen would happen."

It is the culmination of a six-year ambition for Hall, who switched from snowboarding to skiing in 2004 with the Paralympics in mind.

"Snowboarding was the newer sport in the Paralympic world. So if I wanted to go to the Paralympics - and that was my dream since I was a youngster - I had to change," he said.

Hall couldn't explain the emotion when he saw his name, and country, on top of the board after his second run.

"It's incredible and it's going to take a long time to set in. It's been a long road to Vancouver and to top that off, not just with a medal, but a gold one, I don't have anything to explain it."

Hall - whose skis are connected by a strap to keep the tips aligned as he lacks the muscles to keep his legs parallel - competed at the Torino Games four years ago. That was about "seeing what other athletes do and what it takes to be the best in the world".

"I've grown and matured a lot as an athlete, both mentally and physically. That was proven today," he said.

It was fitting those close to him, plus his sponsors, were on hand for his greatest triumph.

"It's not just my medal. Everybody's worked for this, helped me get this far."

Hall was ranked world No 2 going into the slalom. No prizes for guessing where he's sitting now.

Auckland's Peter Williams is New Zealand's other representative in Vancouver, and contests the sitting giant slalom early today.