James Barnes-Miller fired up for banked slalom after snowboard cross disappointment

James Barnes-Miller was left fired up to compete in the banked slalom after mistakes cost him progression from the quarterfinal in snowboard cross.

The Broadstairs Para snowboarder had placed fifth fastest in the men’s 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 quarterfinal to not progress, Barnes-Miller will use that frustration to fuel a medal push in the banked slalom next weekend.

“I’m raging,” he said. “I always race good when I’m angry so hopefully, I ride alright.”

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 his quarterfinal race, both momentum and medal hopes had fallen with him as he cruised over the line in fourth 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 yesterday.”

History maker Davy Zyw also fell in his snowboard cross pre-heat.

The 38-year-old, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease eight years ago, took to the snow in the pre-heats after qualifying 18th in the seeding.

Having looked set to cross the line in third - with the top two qualifying from the four-person races – but Zyw fell just before the finish to confirm he would not progress.

The Edinburgh-born Para snowboarder had suffered a knee injury in training in the week before the event and was taken to hospital as a precaution after falling on Sunday.

And while Zyw would certainly have set higher standards for himself, the Scot had already made history after he became the first athlete with motor neurone disease to compete at a Winter Paralympics.

“I’m delighted to make history here, but I really want to banish this disease to history. Using this platform, I want to help find a cure for this currently incurable condition,” said the 38-year-old.

“But I’m over the moon. I get to experience and share these lifelong memories together in Italy.

“The fact that my son can see me compete on a world stage and rip down on my board, regardless if I come last or first, he gets to see me on that world stage.”

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.

It was not an excuse Barnes-Miller looked to lean on, though, 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].”