Kilner holds his own

Britain's Ben Kilner finished a credible 14th out of 53 competitors in the LG Snowboard World Cup event at Battersea Power Station.

Kilner, the UK's top ranked snowboarder and hope for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, was the top home finisher in front of a record crowd of just under 13,000 for a British winter sports event.

The result was even more impressive as Kilner's specialist event is the half pipe and he was competing in the big air discipline at Battersea.

Jamie Nicholls, the 16-year-old whizz kid of the UK winter sports team, finished mid-field against strong opposition.

The other home riders participating included Nate Kern, who was 20th, and Jack Shackleton who finished in 47th.

The event was won by leading Austrian rider Stefan Gimpl, who celebrated his 30th birthday by finishing ahead of Swiss Gian-Luica Cavigelli and Slovenians Domen Bizjak and Matevz Pristavec.

The remainder of the top 10 was filled by two Finns - Roope Tonteri in fifth and Janne Koepi in sixth - and four Norwegians - Ulrik Badertscher, Morten Kleivdal, Sondre Tiller and Gjermund Braaten.

Event director Andrew Topham said: "The growth of London Freeze this year following the success of 2008 demonstrates the huge appetite for extreme winter sports events in the UK.

"The FIS World Cup event offered a rare glimpse of the world's best riders only months before the Vancouver Winter Olympics."