The world champion of the discipline lived up to his status. Four days after his disappointment and elimination in the quarterfinals of snowboardcross, Maxime Montaggioni secured his first Paralympic medal — and it was gold! — in the banked slalom event.
This is the 5th gold medal for the French team, and the 9th in total.
The Anices club member delivered a lightning-fast second run to clinch the title on Friday at Genting.
The disappointment of the snowboardcross is far, far behind him. Eliminated at the photo-finish in the quarterfinals on Monday, Maxime Montaggioni managed to bounce back impressively in the banked slalom. The 32-year-old Frenchman, who suffers from a congenital forearm condition, put in two phenomenal runs to triumph over the Chinese competitors Ji and Zhu.
Second by just one-hundredth of a second after the first run, the former para taekwondo champion delivered a monumental second run to gain four-tenths of a second on his rival.
His shout of joy at the finish line revealed his emotion. Having made a comeback after the Pyeongchang Games, where he suffered a severe knee ligament injury during training, the Nice native finally achieves his crowning moment.
