Billy Morgan (born 2 April 1989) is an English

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 Paralympic ...

, who won a

big air Big air is a high-injury-risk sports discipline where the competitor rides a vehicle, such as a motocross motorcycle, a skateboard, a snowboard, or a pair of skis, down a hill or ramp and performs aerial tricks after launching off very large jum ...

Bronze medal at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Pyeongchang, South Korea 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 ...

Career

Born in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, England, he competed for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

. Morgan finished 10th in the men's slopestyle final. Morgan achieved his first podium finish in an

FIS Snowboard World Cup The FIS Snowboard World Cup is an annual snowboarding competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1994. Since its inauguration, different disciplines have been added and removed, along with categories used to group them ...

event at the World Cup Finals meeting at

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, Spain in March 2013, where he finished third in the slopestyle competition. He finished the 2012-13 season ranked second in snowboard slopestyle in the FIS World Ranking List. Morgan has won three medals at FIS World Cup. Morgan first took up snowboarding at the age of fourteen on a dry slope after previously competing in

acrobatic gymnastics Acrobatic gymnastics is a competitive discipline of gymnastics where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform routines consisting of acrobatic skills, dance and tumbling, set to music. The sport is governed by the International Feder ...

. In April 2015, Morgan landed the world's first "quad cork". The following day, Morgan noted of the Quad Cork "We’d done a bunch of riding that morning, just prepping for it, and had a reshape on the jump. After that, the quicker I did it the better. I thought ‘right, if I don’t do it now, I wont have the minerals to do it’ so I went back up, composed myself, and just sent it.". He took his first

X Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Mo ...

medal in February 2016 at X Games Oslo, where he finished third in the

competition. Competing at the

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 Seo ...

, Morgan won the bronze medal in the

Big Air Big air is a high-injury-risk sports discipline where the competitor rides a vehicle, such as a motocross motorcycle, a skateboard, a snowboard, or a pair of skis, down a hill or ramp and performs aerial tricks after launching off very large jum ...

event. In an interview published on 23 April 2021, Morgan confirmed he had officially retired from Olympic competition and expressed his desire to serve as an ambassador for the sport to spread snowboarding to younger generations.

Personal life

Morgan was born to Eddie and Joanne, and has an older brother, Ashley. He attended Bellemoor School. As of April 2021, Morgan lives with his girlfriend and son.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Billy 1989 births English male snowboarders Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic snowboarders for Great Britain Sportspeople from Southampton Living people Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in snowboarding 21st-century English sportsmen