Auckland, New Zealand – New Zealand’s Attitude Television has named Paralympic Gold medalist Adam Hall its Sport Performer of the Year at the Attitude Awards held last week at Eden Park.nHall won gold in the adaptive slalom race at the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, Canada, in February. He went on to be named the Otago Athlete of the Year, the first disabled athlete to ever win the award.

Hall has Spina Bifida and competes in the standing class for skiing, despite having almost no muscle in his lower leg.

“Adam was one of those kids who could never be tied down,” said Adaptive Snow Sports Manager, Libby Blackley. “He set a goal at the age of six to be a ski champion.”

Hall’s snow sports journey began as a young child when he was introduced through Disabled Snow Sports Otago, a division of Disabled Snowsports (now Adaptive Snow Sports New Zealand).

Blackley was in Vancouver in March to watch Hall achieve his life long dream of Paralaympic Gold. “It was inspiring,” she said. “Adam has worked incredibly hard over a number of years to reach the pinnacle in his sport and we are thankful to Attitude Television for recognizing this achievement.”

The Attitude Awards showcase the achievements of New Zealanders living with disabilities. The Attitude Sport Performer of the Year Award is awarded to the highest achiever in sport for 2010. Finalists for the award included teammate Carl Murphy, New Zealand’s top adaptive snowboarder and Paralympic gold medalist target shooter, Michael Johnson.

Up and coming sit-skier, Shakti Krishnan (11) was one of three finalists for the Courage in Sport Award. Krishnan currently participates in several sports, but has already set his sights on representing New Zealand as a Paralympic skier. He was recently named to the Adaptive Snow Sports Development Team.

The Awards have grown from the television series Attitude, which screens throughout the year on TVNZ.