Ben Kilner (born 21 August 1988) is a professional

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

from

Banchory Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short cist ...

, Scotland. He was a member of the British

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

and

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Team and represented Britain in the Men's

Halfpipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ra ...

. Started snowboarding at age 9 and first competing at age 10 in the Rider cup series in Scotland. After winning the 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 Rider Cup series Ben competed in the first British championships in 2001 and finished 1st. He joined the Scottish squad and travelled with his teammates around Europe and eventually at age 13 competed internationally in the Paul Mitchell US Grand Prix at June Mountain, California against Olympic gold medalist, Ross Powers. Ben continued competing internationally in the Junior World Championships, European Open and competitions alike. At age 16 Ben was promoted to the British Snowboard team where he competed in his first World Cup in Bardonechia, Italy. Continuing to win in his age category in the British championships each year Ben was mostly based abroad and travelled with his team competing on the international level. After narrowly missing the Turin Olympic qualification Ben continued his career and picked up sponsors Nike, K2 snowboards, Giro, and Thirty Two. He joined management agency Red Sky and pursued his dream to qualify for Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. Previously finishing 3rd in the Canada World cup weeks before the Olympics Ben earned himself enough points to meet Team GB's criteria. After finishing a respectable 18th at the Winter Olympics he placed 7th in the Spanish World cup weeks later. Ben competed in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, finishing 16th in the qualifications rounds of the Men's Half-pipe.

References

Scottish male snowboarders Olympic snowboarders for Great Britain Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Living people People educated at Banchory Academy 1988 births Sportspeople from Aberdeenshire People from Banchory {{UK-snowboarding-bio-stub