Two-time defending champion Adam Hall has fallen short in his bid for a threepeat of Winter Paralympic gold medals, taking bronze in the standing slalom at Beijing.
After victories at Vancouver 2010 and Pyeongchang 2018, Hall, 34, tuned up for his specialist event with third in the super combined standing last week, repeating his performance in that event four years ago.
But in the slalom, he trailled French rival Arthur Bauchet - already super combined and downhill gold medallist - through the opening round and slipped another spot to Chinese Jingyi Liang during his second run.
Changing weather saw the event delayed 24 hours and Hall admits the conditions were more challenging that earlier in the Games.
"Definitely the snow conditions have changed quite a lot over the last couple of days," he says. "But we've trained in every condition and every scenario possible, so it was a matter of getting down the best I could and fight all the way to the finish.
"I'm still proud of my performances and the whole campaign. Slalom is just so competitive, any top-10, top-15 athlete can be in the position I'm in, so I'm fortunate that the hard work and challenges we've overcome have paid off."
Hall finished almost four seconds behind Bauchet and a second behind Jingyi. His medal brought the New Zealand tally to four at Beijing, with fellow skier Corey Peters winning gold in sitting downhill and silver in sitting Super G.
Peters was named NZ flagbearer for Sunday's closing ceremony.
