Lloyd Wallace (born 13 February 1995) is a British

freestyle skier Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and ...

who competed at the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

Career

Wallace was a gymnast, before switching to

aerial skiing Aerial skiing or aerials is a freestyle skiing discipline where athletes ski down a slope to launch themselves off a kicker (a vertically inclined ramp) and perform multiple twists and flips before landing on an inclined landing hill. Aerialists ...

at the age of 14, after a family skiing holiday in

Tignes Tignes () is a commune in the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France, known for the highest skiable area and the longest ski season in Europe. It is located in the Savoie region with good tr ...

, France. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 FIS Junior freestyle skiing championships. He was the first British skier to win a Europa Cup in men's aerial skiing at Airolo, Switzerland, in March 2015. In August 2017 whilst Wallace was training in

Mettmenstetten Mettmenstetten (Swiss German: ''Mäpmischtette'') is a village in the district of Affoltern in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Origin of the name and history The town took its name from being "In the middle". It was listed as being in th ...

, Switzerland, he had an accident which left him unconscious. He was then put in an

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as ...

. Wallace later said that the accident was caused by hitting the edge of a ramp. Wallace recovered at the

Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The name is taken from the now lost monastery which once stood alongside. This original Bisham Abbey was previously named Bisham Priory, and was the trad ...

, and returned to training two months after the accident. Wallace competed at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

, South Korea where he performed two types of triple twisting triple somersaults. He was the first British aerial skier to compete at the Olympics since Kevin Harbut in the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

, Japan. He finished 20th in the event. After the 2018 Olympics, Wallace took a two-year break from freestyle skiing, returning in October 2020, self-funding until the discipline finally received funding from

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...

in January 2022. In March 2021, he came third at a European Cup event in Switzerland. He almost missed the

FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2021 The 2021 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships were held in Idre, Rogla, Almaty and Aspen with the ski and snowboard cross events held in Idre from 11 to 13 February 2021, the parallel and giant slalom snowboard in Rogla from ...

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

, Kazakhstan due to a visa issue, but was able to compete. He finished 15th, and a few days later, he came ninth at the 2020–21 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup event at the same venue. In January 2022, Wallace was selected for the aerials event at the

in Beijing, China. He performed two quadruple-twisting triple somersaults, becoming the first Briton to do so. He finished 21st in the qualifying round and did not qualify for the final.

Personal life

Wallace's mother Jilly ( Curry) competed at the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

and won 29 FIS World Cup medals, which at the time was more than any other British skier or snowboarder. Wallace's father Robin competed for Great Britain at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

in Calgary, Canada. His grandfather Peter Curry competed at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

, and his uncle

Shaun Wallace Shaun Anthony Linford Wallace (born 2 June 1960) is an English barrister, lecturer and television personality. He is one of the six "chasers" on the ITV quiz show '' The Chase''. Wallace is a part-time lecturer and visits schools, colleges and ...

competed in

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Wallace graduated from the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

in July 2017. He was awarded a

Full Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

by the

in 2017, and was the guest speaker at the 2018 award ceremony. To fund his skiing career, Wallace works as a Sports Management Agent, representing several Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Lloyd 1995 births Living people British male freestyle skiers Freestyle skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Freestyle skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic freestyle skiers of Great Britain Alumni of the University of Bath