stoked for him today on bronze after all the work he has put in to get to where he is
managed to get an article on the BBC website which is pretty cool
Woods was competing in his first X Games. Photo: Tyler Gigg
By Anna Thompson
James Woods has won Britain's first freestyle skiing medal at a major championships after taking bronze in slopestyle at the Euro Winter X Games.
The Sheffield skier, 19, competed in tough weather conditions against the sport's elite in Tignes, France.
Woods, in his first X Games, was beaten to gold and silver by Canada's JF Houle and Norway's Andreas Hatveit.
But he finished ahead of pre-event favourites Alex Schlopy and Bobby Brown of the United States.
Woods said it was a dream come true to win a medal but he was struggling to find the right words to convey how he felt.
"I'm so happy to come away with a medal," he said.
"It was probably the hardest course I've skied and the conditions were tough as well but I just told myself to go for it because it was the X Games final. Thankfully I managed to put down a solid run."
Woods becomes the first British skier on the podium at a world-class event since Konrad Bartelski finished second at the Val Gardena World Cup downhill in 1981.
And his achievement comes weeks ahead of the International Olympic Committee's decision on whether to allow slopestyle into the 2014 Winter Olympics.
It is expected the IOC will vote in favour of the sport's inclusion, which would be great news for British medal prospects.
As well as Woods, snowboarder Jenny Jones has won the X Games and Euro X Games gold in slopestyle, while Katie Summerhayes - who is only 15 - finished ninth in Tignes in the ski equivalent.
UK Sport withdrew funding for alpine skiing and snowboarding after poor results in Vancouver but has stressed it would consider the freestyle athletes should slopestyle be given the Olympic go-ahead.
Britain has never won a Winter Olympic medal on snow, only in ice sports, although slalom skier Alain Baxter did finish third in the 2002 slalom but had to relinquish the medal after failing a drugs test.
Slopestyle is where riders head down a course which has rails and jumps and they are judged on the difficulty of tricks they execute.
Woods learned his freestyle skills at Sheffield Ski Village dry slope but this season showed his world potential by qualifying third for the final at the World Championships, although he finished eighth on the day after a mistake in his run.
He now heads to the British Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Championships, which are being held in Laax, Switzerland, from 20-27 March, where he will be defending his slopestyle crown.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/9428354.stm 