James Barnes-Miller snowboards in Beijing

James Barnes-Miller

Athlete Information

  • Region

    Broadstairs

  • Date of Birth

    30/08/1989

  • Classification

    SB-UL

Athlete main content

Events

Snowboard cross, banked slalom

Bio

James Barnes-Miller was a keen skateboarder as a youngster and first tried snowboarding while on holiday with friends in Bulgaria in 2010.

This led to another snowboarding trip to The Netherlands, where James met para snowboarder and future PyeongChang 2018 teammate Owen Pick who encouraged him to get in contact with the British Para Snowsport team.

In 2017 James finished fourth in snowboard cross at the World Championships in Big White, Canada – his debut at that level.

James became the first snowboarder to represent Great Britain at the Paralympic Games when he left the gate for his snowboard cross qualification run at PyeongChang 2018. James ultimately finished seventh in the snowboard cross SB-UL and tenth in the banked slalom.

Following Pyeongchang, James has established himself as one of the leading riders on the international circuit, backed up after winning the Crystal Globe as the overall World Cup snowboard cross leader in 2020.

At the delayed 2021 World Championships in Lillehammer, James was once again one of the standout performers, winning two individual medals, a silver and a bronze in the snowboard cross and banked slalom events as well as a bronze in the team snowboard cross event.

Returning for his second games at Beijing 2022, James achieved his best place finish at a Paralympics when he won the snowboard cross small final to rank fifth overall, as well as another top-10 finish in the banked slalom event.

Major results

2022 Paralympic Winter Games, Beijing, China

  • UL Snowboard Cross: 5th
  • UL Banked Slalom: 9th

2018 Paralympic Winter Games, PyeongChang, South Korea

  • UL Snowboard Cross: 7th
  • UL Banked Slalom: 10th

2021 World Championships, Lillehammer, Norway (delayed to January 2022)

  • UL Snowboard Cross: Silver
  • UL Banked Slalom: Bronze
  • UL Snowboard Cross team: Bronze

2017 World Championships, Big White, Canada

  • UL Snowboard Cross: 4th
  • UL Banked Slalom: 9th

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