James Barnes-Miller was left fired up to compete in the banked slalom after mistakes cost him progression from the quarter-final in snowboard cross at the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics on Sunday.
The Broadstairs Para snowboarder had placed fifth fastest in the snowboard cross SB-UL seeding to set him up with a credible shout at the podium in his third and final Paralympic Games.
But after finishing fourth in his quarter-final, Barnes-Miller will use that frustration to fuel a medal push in the banked slalom SB-UL on Saturday.
“I’m raging,” he said. “I always race good when I’m angry so, hopefully, I ride all right.”
A slow start led to the 36-year-old playing catch up from the off and his attempts to make up ground on the two frontrunners saw him fall halfway at a corner.
While he got up to finish, both momentum and medal hopes had fallen with him as he cruised over the line and failed to progress.
“That’s snowboarding, isn’t it? It’s not meant to be,” he said.
“It wasn’t the cleanest and it’s a bit of a shame, really, because I qualified really well.”
Barnes-Miller is yet to medal at a Paralympics despite going close at both PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022.
He became the first Para snowboarder to represent ParalympicsGB in 2018, and will look to continue working in the sport from the sidelines after the Games.
His fall followed teammate Ollie Hill being ruled out of the event after suffering a concussion during a crash in training. And there were so many crashes at a part of the course that was deemed particularly dangerous it had been altered just prior to Saturday’s seeding.
Though it was not an excuse Barnes-Miller looked to lean on, even with the heat of the Cortina sun adding the potential to make conditions more challenging.
“The actual bit they’ve changed is really quite simple, so it didn’t take much to learn,” he explained.
“It’s running good, the practice felt good. With the weather the course is softer now but it’s about the same as [the seeding].”
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.
