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Team GB skiing star James Woods had to persuade parents he wasn’t ‘going to the mountains to do drugs’

Getty Images
Getty Images

In his mid-teens, James Woods sat his parents down to tell them he was leaving school to pursue his freestyle skiing ambitions.

“The most difficult thing was trying to persuade them I wasn’t planning to go to the mountains, do drugs and waste my life,” recalls ‘Woodsy’ laughing.

Such parental fears have long been allayed and on Sunday he has the opportunity to become Britain’s first ever Olympic skiing medal in the slopestyle competition, depending on how his female Team GB counterparts fare on Saturday.

Despite stepping away from school full-time he continued his education — studying for his GCSEs and A-levels in Austria and the United States respectively — but the academic life was not for him.

“I was never great at school,” says Woods. “Freeskiing is my love and passion. It’s saved me, given me everything in my life. As a kid from Sheffield, freeskiing has taken me above and beyond anything I could possibly imagine.

“This is everything I could have dreamed of and so much more. I’m as in love with freeskiing as I ever was. But back in the day there were a lot of tough conversations, and it must have been very hard for my parents but they had faith in me.”

The 26-year-old has repaid that faith as a trailblazer for freeskiing in Britain, playing a role in guiding the likes of the Summerhayes sisters, Katie Ormerod and Jamie Nicholls, his British team-mates in PyeongChang.

Woods has won World Cup events and Winter X Games, but rather than obsess about the victories his greater drive is in helping the next generation of skiers in Britain. “That’s not to say I don’t want to win a medal,” Woods says, “but inspiring people is my goal in life, that next generation and show off what you do.”

In Sochi, he had been talked of as one of Britain’s best medal hopes but finished fifth, injury halting him from unleashing his best tricks. Four years on, he believes “there are genuinely 20 guys who could win any day of the week — it’s madness”.

Of his own chances, he said: “People say the course suits me and I love the look of the rails — they’re difficult but that’s something I vibe with — while the jumps are very creative. It’s going to be a banging show. I want to show a new audience that I’m a badass and I can throw it down when it counts. That’s the buzz, the addiction.”

Woods talks like the stereotypical freestyle skier but with a breathless energy that’s almost contagious. He has every intention of pushing himself to the limit on Sunday while still conscious of the dangers. “You think of that, you’re aware and make calm, calculated decisions,” he says. “But I want to ski baby, I’m not slowing down.”

DFS is proud to continue its support of Team GB as the official homeware partner, bringing the joy of comfort to Team GB athletes throughout 2018 and beyond.