Lloyd Wallace produced the jumps of his life to come seventh in the Deer Valley aerial skiing World Cup and is now looking to go one better this weekend and mark his 21st birthday in style.
It had been almost 21 years to the day since a Brit had finished in the top ten of an aerial World Cup when Wallace came seventh with a score of 113.97 points in Deer Valley, USA, last Thursday.
He recorded two personal bests on his way to what was the most impressive result of his senior career, before coming 29th in the next round the following day.
It is Wallace’s first full season on the World Cup circuit and he insists there is still room for improvement heading into Saturday’s next World Cup in Moscow – which coincides with his 21st birthday.
“I couldn’t believe it,” admitted Wallace. “I had a difficult week of training and then managed to put it all together. To be honest I was baffled.
“In the training week in Canada I had been having issues but I knew I had it in me to compete with the best but to do it on the day was amazing.
“In the first round of the World Cup season in China I didn’t put down the jumps that I wanted to [coming 26th and 27th], so to come to Deer Valley and produce two amazing jumps is a dream come true.
“But they were not the perfect jump and I know I can do better so hopefully I can put it down on the big day on Saturday.”
The sport is in the 20-year-old’s blood as his dad Robin took part in the 1988 Olympics and mum Jilly Curry represented her country at the 1992 and 1994 Games, while his 18-year-old sister Elodie also competes.
Wallace is in the second year of his Sports Performance degree at the University of Bath but also spends a lot of his time training abroad, primarily with the Swiss national team.
And the rising star of British aerial skiing already has his eyes on the World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, next year.
He said: “This season is about getting experience at World Cup level and then hopefully I can transfer that to the World Championships next year and then the Winter Olympics the year after that.
“Becoming the first Brit to reach the top ten of an aerials World Cup since the 1990s has given me confidence that I can make it to the top.
“The jump I did in Deer Valley is the record for the most difficult made by a British guy [on the World Cup circuit] so it is an amazing feeling to know I can be up there with the top dogs of the aerial skiing world.
“The World Championships next year is a big goal of mine and I will be trying to perfect even tougher tricks over the summer ahead of that.”
Sportsbeat 2016