Sparks lights up Para Snowboard World Champs with SBX Bronze

Britain’s first medal of the World Para Snowboard Championships comes from LL2 SBX races

Nina Sparks, who earlier this month secured the overall Europa Cup Para Snowboard title, took Britain’s first medal of the La Molina 2023 World Para Snowboard Championships with an excellent bronze medal in the Snowboard Cross discipline.

In a fully European field, Sparks was third on the podium behind Lisa Bunschoten of the Netherlands in the gold medal position, and Switzerland’s Romy Tschopp who took silver.

Speaking afterwards, Sparks said:

“The amazing support from GB Snowsport, the staff team, my teammates has really fired me to do better and push myself this season. It’s been so cool, the support has been amazing.

“The course today was really soft and quite narrow – riding the heat with four people was kind of scary! I’m not sure if the weather was a help or a hindrance. I think it made me more confident, because if I was going to fall it was going to be a softer landing, but all the ruts and holes in the course were definitely a challenge!”

Britain’s three-person squad of Sparks, Ollie Hill, and James Barnes-Miller are set to compete throughout the Championships’ full programme, with Banked Slalom races to follow next week.