Nina Sparks makes history in Paralympics debut as Barnes-Miller calls time

Nina Sparks made history as the first British woman to compete in Para snowboarding at a Winter Paralympics at Milano Cortina.

The 35-year-old could not quite comprehend the magnitude of the moment after laying down a commendable performance on her Paralympic debut.

But despite being the only woman on the team being her norm, it is a significant moment in the sport’s history with Sparks hoped to be the first of many more.

“It’s definitely not sunk in yet,” she said. “I’m out here snowboarding with these girls all winter and have been for years, it’s just normal that, ‘Oh yeah, I’m Great Britain.’

“I’m the only girl on our team and obviously on the circuit so it kind of just feels normal.

“The fact that it is obviously a big thing, probably I’ll see the impact of that going forward rather than up to now.”

Sparks finished 10th in the women’s banked slalom SB-LL2 with a best time of 1:12.79.

It marked an improvement on her first run, where she was half a second down on her best time.

“Pretty crazy day, I was a bit nervous going into this whole week,” she reflected.

“To have just put down a run that I’m really, really proud of and have just found out is quicker than the previous run, I will take that.”

As Sparks opened her Paralympic campaign, trailblazer James Barnes-Miller called time on his, after recording his best banked slalom result at a Winter Games.

The 36-year-old made his debut at PyeongChang 2018 when he became the first Para snowboarder to represent ParalympicsGB at a Winter Games.

Eight years later and Barnes-Miller completed his final Paralympic run competing in a five-strong Para snowboard team, including three debutants, having set the wheels in motion.

“It has been wicked. I am very lucky to have had 10 years of racing with all my mates,” he said of his career.

Barnes-Miller finished seventh in the men’s banked slalom SB-UL to record his best finish in the event in a best time of 59.08.

He improved on his first run by over a second to secure the superlative result having finished tenth in 2018, before registering a ninth-place finish in the event at Beijing 2022.

“I am pretty stoked. First run I had a couple of mistakes, I needed to push a bit harder,” he said.

“There were only a couple of things I needed to do. I pushed as hard as I could and made a couple of mistakes because of that but I had nothing to lose.

“That’s what we tried to do on the second run. I am pretty happy with it.”

The snowboarding events had been moved forward by a day owing to an adverse weather forecast in Cortina D’Ampezzo.

But the British contingent made the most of the salted conditions, with Matt Hamilton crossing in 11th and Davy Zyw in 19th.

Hamilton may not be going home with silverware but he will be going home with a fiancée after proposing to his girlfriend Christina.

In the men’s SB-LL2 event, Ollie Hill clocked a seventh place finish in a time of 58.30.