James Barnes-Miller begins his third and final Paralympics this weekend – and hopes he can help leave para-snowboarding in the best place possible for future riders.
The 36-year-old from Broadstairs competes in the SB-UL class for athletes with an upper limb impairment in snowboard cross and banked slalom at Milano Cortina, with seeding for the snowboard cross starting tomorrow (Saturday). Medals will be up for grabs on Sunday with banked slalom action a week on Saturday.
Barnes-Miller boasts an impressive career which includes World Championship silver in the SB-UL snowboard cross, and two bronzes in the SB-UL dual banked slalom and team events, all in 2021.
Having taken up the sport after a holiday with friends to Bulgaria in 2010, he became the first para-snowboarder to represent Great Britain at a Paralympic Games at PyeongChang 2018 , finishing seventh in the snowboard cross and 10th in the banked slalom.
His second Games at Beijing 2022 resulted in his best finish with fifth in the snowboard cross.
With a third tilt at glory, Barnes-Miller’s main aim is to ensure there is a solid foundation for the next generation of para-snowboarders to flourish from.
“It’s mad,” he said, when asked about going to his third Games.
“If I look back at my first Games, I was just happy to be there. Now, thinking that I’m actually going to make my third Games, it’s crazy. It’s sick. I can’t wait.
“It’s going to be fun. Watching the Olympics has just got me really excited. I can’t wait to get there. It feels a bit more real now. The sport has given me quite a lot. I just want to make sure that para-snowboard, especially in the UK, is still doing all right.
“I want to try and get some coaching afterwards with the team. Leaving it in a good place with good people and hopefully more people is all I really want.
“My legacy doesn’t really matter. It’s the sport. I can pass on the knowledge I’ve built up over the years. I feel like I can do that, especially with the snowboard cross side of it.”
Now living in France, Barnes-Miller became a father in November 2025 and hopes he can medal in front of his baby daughter.
Since returning to the snow from paternity leave, he secured a banked slalom World Cup podium at Canada’s Big White resort in January, but admitted parenthood has added an extra dynamic to his preparation.
“It’s been a bit different,” he explained. “Normally everything’s focused: sleeping well, eating well, training as much as I can, getting on the snow. This time it’s been waking up when the baby wakes up and feeding her, and training whenever I can fit it in.
“It has been a bit different, but I feel in a good place. I have my gym sessions that I need to do, and I just fit them in where I can and get them done. I feel like I’m peaking at the right time to compete and do all right.”
But the newfound responsibilities of parenthood have brought their benefits for Barnes-Miller too, with being able to switch off from the sport a much easier task nowadays.
He added: “I used to be at home thinking about things and over-analysing everything. Now I don’t have the time or the energy.
“When I’m at home, I’m in dad mode, and then I come away and reset into racing mode. It has been good for that. It’s still early days, but it has been good so far.”
Discover Every Body Moves powered by Toyota, ParalympicsGB’s inclusive activity finder. Empowering disabled people to find ways to become more active locally or at home and inviting providers to promote more inclusive sessions across the UK. Find out more at everybodymoves.org.uk.
