An Angus teenager has taken a step closer to fulfilling a dream to represent Great Britain at a future Winter Olympics.
14-year-old Alex Rooney has expressed his delight at being selected for the National Snowboarder Cross (SBX) team.
First introduced at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, the event sees up to six competitors timed as they race head-to-head down a steep course comprised of jumps, corners and drop-offs.
With no margin for error and any physical contact resulting in disqualification, falls are frequent and races frequently won by hundredths of a second.
Forfar Academy pupil Alex is one of two Scottish teenagers who impressed judges when national trials were held at the Snow Factor indoor snow slope outside Glasgow and he now trains at the facility every week.
The Letham teenager’s selection comes just three years since taking up snowboarding and just 12 months after taking gold at the English SBX Championships.
He said: “My ultimate ambition is to ride for my country at Olympic level. It felt really good to take another step in the right direction by being selected for the national SBX squad.
“My development is really helped by being able to train year-round on real snow conditions at Snow Factor.
“My school has also been really supportive by allowing me to condense my schooling into four days and awarding me a grant.
“Angus Council is also supporting my fitness training by providing free access to its leisure facilities. I trampoline a lot to practice my aerial moves and I also skateboard.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to attend a couple of winter training camps with the national SBX squad this coming season.”
Alex has been joined on the national SBX squad by Thomas Dunn, a primary six pupil at St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow.
Bordercross courses are typically quite narrow with steep and flat sections designed to challenge the riders’ ability to stay in control while maintaining maximum speed. High speed collisions are not uncommon.
The competition format is usually a time trial followed by a knock-out tournament.
At the last Winter Olympics in 2014, the snowboard cross gold medal was won by Frenchman Paul Vaultier after 39 competitors from 15 countries took part. Britain was not represented in the contest.
