Walking on air! Snowboarder Billy Morgan wins bronze at Winter Olympics making it Team GB's most successful Winter Games ever
British snowboard sensation Billy Morgan landed two huge jumps in the Big Air event to win bronze and make Pyeongchang Team GB's most successful Winter Games ever.
The 28-year-old maverick had the audience – including Ivanka Trump – on the edge of their seats as he sailed through the air in his third and final jump making a 'double grab' of his board before a perfect landing.
The veteran snowboarder pumped the air with his fist and gave a huge sigh of relief as he waited to see if his combined score of 168 was enough to propel him onto the podium.
'I can't believe it,' Morgan told the BBC. 'I didn't think I'd make the podium and I was just stoked to make the final.
'I just wanted to put a show down and I was worried after the first jump that I wasn't going to land anything but managed to land my next two jumps and walked away with a medal.
Olympic medal: British snowboard sensation Billy Morgan won bronze in the Big Air event .
Morgan said: 'I just wanted to put a show down and I was worried after the first jump that I wasn't going to land anything but managed to land my next two jumps and walked away with a medal'.
Morgan only just squeezed into the final, gaining the 12th place after the qualifying round. The 28-year-old stuck his tongue out and raised his arms in the air as his name was read out by the race commentator.
He appeared shell-shocked as he celebrated with other members of the Team GB ski and snowboard team at the Alpensia ski jumping centre. Morgan only just squeezed into the final, gaining the 12th place after the qualifying round.
But he scored 16800 points from his second and third jump to see off his rivals and win bronze. Sebastien Toutant of Canada won gold and Kyle Mack of the USA won silver.
After the win Morgan, the former gymnast from Southampton, said: 'It's not sunk in yet, it's wild. He told how had to cope with an injury during the final after he fell and hurt himself in practice.
'I had a hard slam on my back and fell another three times so I'm a little bit sore but luckily I don't need to do any more snowboarding today so that's good.
He said his family and friends had cheered him on at home. 'They were all in a bar near the dry ski slope where I learned to snowboard in Southampton.
'I'm sure they were enjoying themselves. Gold medal winner Sebastien Toutant, of Canada, is flanked by silver medal winner Kyle Mack, of the United States, left, and bronze medal winner Billy Morgan, of Great Britain.
Former gymnast Morgan landed two huge jumps in the Big Air event to win bronze.
Renowned for his wild-lifestyle the 28-year-old posed wearing just his snowboard boots and his board for a national newspaper feature ahead of the Olympics. Hes seen in action during the final Saturday.
Team GB snowboard coach Hamish McKnight said he was delighted at Morgan's medal, which follows on from Jenny Jones' bronze in Sochi in 2014. 'Two medals in two Games, it's becoming a bit of a habit! he told the BBC.
'As long as it's not made a rule. 'It's an all or nothing sport as we've seen.
'Max Parrot [from Canada] nailed five 1800s one after the other in training but couldn't in the final. McKnight revealed he told Morgan to slow down his descent to better control his jump.
'I told him to check his speed because he's overshot it a few times,' he said. 'Thankfully he did and he landed two very good jumps.
Morgan had an uphill battle to win bronze after he failed to land his first jump. Sebastien Toutant of Canada, Kyle Mack of the U. , and Billy Morgan of Britain celebrate with their national flags.
He scored 16800 points from his second and third jump to see off his rivals and win bronze.
Ivanka Trump, South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook and South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha attend the Mens Snowboarding Big Air Final at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre during day fifteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.
At 28, Pyeongchang is almost certainly his last Olympic Games. He has been hampered with injury and endured personal agony when his father suffered a stroke last summer.
Team GB snowboarder Aimee Fuller branded Morgan a legend for winning Britain's first men's snowboard medal. She wrote on Twitter: 'LEGEND. HISTORY the first ever British male on top of the Snowboard Big Air podium! .
Morgan was already Britain's most successful male snowboarder after he finished sixth in the slopestyle final in Sochi in 2014. Jones won the bronze medal in slopestyle event in 2014 – Team GB's first snowboard medal.
However as the oldest competitor in the free-style snowboarding events appeared to have lost his mojo when he failed to qualify for the slopestyle final.
But he regained his composure to land two enormous and highly technical jumps in the Big Air competition this morning. Morgans social media posts show him dropping his trousers in places like Austria (above).
Morgan did not take up snowboarding until he was 14, after taking part in gymnastics and stake boarding as a youngster. He became the first snowboarder to perform the triple backside rodeo trick, involving three mid-air rotations, in January 2012.
A video attracted more than one million YouTube views. In April 2015 he became the first snowboarder to land a backside 18000 quad cork - four flips and five full rotations.
Renowned for his wild-lifestyle the 28-year-old posed wearing just his snowboard boots and his board for a national newspaper feature ahead of the Olympics. His social media posts show him dropping his trousers in places like New Zealand.
Morgan had his right knee reconstructed two years ago, having competed in Sochi with a chronic knee problem.
Cheeky: He is known for his wild-lifestyle and posed wearing just his snowboard boots and his board for a national newspaper feature ahead of the Olympics. Seen above posing in New Zealand.
In Pyeongchang he has had to manage a left knee injury sustained before Christmas which limited his training time and affected the tricks he could do in the slopestyle competition.
He said: Having problems with both knees and falling out of the sky all day on these jumps is gnarly.
Morgan's medal confirms Pyeongchang as Britain's most successful Winter Olympic Games with five medals – ahead of Britain's best haul of four at Sochi in 2014 and Chamonix in 1924.
His bronze follows a gold for Lizzy Yarnold in the skeleton as well as bronze medals for fellow sliders Laura Deas and Dom Parsons and a bronze for free-style skier Izzy Atkin in the half-pipe event.
Britain still has hopes for a bronze medal in the women's curling final tonight.
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