Winter Olympian Aimee Fuller believes snowboarding has enjoyed a huge boost in popularity following Great Britain’s exploits in Sochi earlier this year.
Jenny Jones won Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic medal on snow in February after a dazzling performance in the slopestyle final earned her bronze.
Seven British snowboarders in total competed in Sochi, with Fuller herself missing out on the slopestyle final after finish ninth in the semi-finals.
And Fuller, 22, insists the nation is still taking inspiration from the excitement of Sochi three months on from the closing ceremony.
“I went to the Snow Centre straight after the Games with Jamie Nicholls and I’ve never seen a snow dome so busy in my life,” she said.
“I went back ten days ago and it was jammed full of people, loads of them snowboarding for the first time.
“The fact that people on the street now know what we do and can access the sport in the UK is incredible.
“Just hearing people’s stories about how we inspired them to take up snowboarding, or return to the sport, is amazing and exactly what we wanted to create from the Olympic Games.”
For now Fuller is building up her strength for when the World Cup season rolls around again this winter.
“Summer months normally mean you spend a lot of time working really hard in the gym and getting as fit as possible, working on both cardio and explosive strength,” she added.
“Snowboarding really requires a mix of agility and endurance. We compete all day, but you also need to be really fast, agile and flexible to take the impact.
“I’ve also been trying to get some down time and recover from all the travelling and competing.”
© Sportsbeat 2014