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Suur-Hamari brings 1st gold for Finland in Paralympic

Published : 13 Mar 2018, 02:16

Updated : 13 Mar 2018, 09:08

DF Report

Matti Suur-Hamari from Finland celebrates during the awarding ceremony for the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-LL2 event of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games at Jeongseon Alpine Centre, South Korea, March 12, 2018. Matti Suur-Hamari claimed the title of the event. Photo Xinhua by Xia Yifang.

Matti Suur-Hamari brought gold for Finland in the the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-LL2 event of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games at Jeongseon Alpine Centre, South Korea on Monday.

It is the first medal for Finland and also for 31-year-old athlete as well in the winter Paralympic so far this year.

Gabel Keith of the United States of America won silver in the event while Narita Gurimu of Japan won bronze.

Suur-Hamari first tried snowboarding in 1999, and took up Para snowboard in 2012.

He was inspired to return to the sport after his accident as he watched a video of American Para snowboarder Evan on the internet.

Earlier, he won a gold medal in the adaptive snowboard cross at the 2016 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado, USA.

Suur-Hamari was the bearer of the Finnish flag at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic this year. He also hoisted the country flag at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.

He was awarded with the Snowboard Spectacle of the Year award at the 2016 Spine X Awards in Finland.