Proud but injured Woods claims Olympic fifth is immense

Great Britain's James Woods had no complaints after claiming fifth - behind his 'four best mates' - in the Olympic ski slopestyle final.

Woods, last season's world number one, injured his hip in training and admitted to feeling sore after making the final as the third qualifier.

Joss Christensen took gold ahead of American team-mates Gus Kenworthy and Nicholas Goepper while Woods, 22, recorded runs of 86.60 and 78.40 and was pipped to fourth by Norway's Andreas Haatveit.

It means Great Britain's best record in the four slopestyle across ski and snowboarding reads sixth, third, seventh and fifth - unprecedented success on snow for Team GB at the Winter Olympics.

"It's always a little disappointing when you can't perform at your best, but I'm very proud to be here in such an immense final," said Woods, whose coach Pat Sharples revealed pain from his injury was so severe he considered pulling out of the Games.

"Any other occasion I wouldn't be near my skis so I cannot be unhappy with this - it's the world stage.

"Fifth in the Olympics, with four of my best mates in front of me, it is great."

"Some things hurt more than others, that was in the back of my mind. I tried to forget about it, think about why I'm here, because that's a long way down," he added.

"I'm not putting anything out there, I love skiing, I love what I'm doing, I certainly didn't bring my best game to the table but I'm incredibly proud to be here."

© Sportsbeat 2014