Para skier Adam Hall is still coming to terms with his latest achievement, after winning New Zealand's third medal of this year's Beijing Winter Paralympics.
Off the back of a gold and silver medal won on the Games' opening two days by Corey Peters, 34-year-old Hall added a bronze on Monday night (NZ time), taking out third place in the standing super combined event.
The bronze in the super combined was Hall's second successive third-placed finish at the Winter Paralympics, after the same result at Pyeongchang four years ago - to go with his two gold medals in the slalom standing event, won at Vancouver 2010 and Pyeongchang.
And despite having topped the podium in the past, Hall says he considers Monday's bronze up there with his best achievements at the Winter Paralympics due to the challenges of building up to Beijing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But with another medal now locked away, Hall hopes the performance of the New Zealand team will continue to be strong for the rest of the Games.
"These Games have definitely got to be ranked right up there," Hall tells Newshub.
"It is a completely different experience.
"It's almost like a bit of an eerie feeling. There's no family and friends here to be able to support and celebrate with, to enjoy what the Games is about and to see it first hand.
"I think that's really great, but it's just been a little bit different - not strange. We've anticipated this is what it would be like. I think perhaps without that brings not the same amount of pressure and expectations as there perhaps would be if there were people there cheering and supporting.
"It's brought us pretty close together as a team, especially the way we've started this campaign with Corey's results as well. We've just been chugging away, doing our thing and for us, just looking at it, it's no different to any other event we go to.
"If we continue to stay focussed and look at it that way, we'll continue to do really well. The only difference is that we're able to showcase to the rest of the world what it is we're doing every four years.
"People, sure, aren't here physically, but they're here spiritually, and here with us and know what we're doing.
"[We'll] try and promote to the rest of the para and adaptive world out there, and just anybody and everybody what it is the Winter Games are all about."
And with his build-up hampered by COVID disruptions, as well as the gruelling nature of the super combined event, Hall's achievement is yet to register along with what he's already accomplished as a Paralympic athlete.
"It hasn't sunk in yet, no," Hall tells Newshub. "[I'm] still in awe really, and still trying to come down from the high. Not a great sleep last night.
"[It was] a really long exhausting day. Super Combined is definitely the most draining event and the most challenging event - having the combination of both the speed event and the technical event.
"By the time I had my ski boots off, and my kit off, it was 12 hours. Extraordinarily massive day. With all that comes all the emotions that follow that. Just because you're absolutely drained, physically and mentally."
Hall continues his and New Zealand's Beijing Winter Paralympics campaign with the slalom run on Sunday.
