Freestyle aerial skier takes 'indefinite break'

Lloyd Wallace competed in two Winter Olympics for Team GB

Freestyle aerial skier Lloyd Wallace said he is taking an "indefinite break" from the sport after competing in two Winter Olympics.

Wallace, 29, was Team GB's sole freestyle aerial skier at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and 2022 Games in Beijing.

He finished 20th and 21st respectively after becoming Britain's first male representative in the sport since 1998.

"I told myself I was never going to retire and so I am just confirming I am on an indefinite break from skiing," he told BBC Radio Wiltshire.

"I always told myself I was never going to shut that door but sometimes you get opportunities thrown at you and life takes lots of twists and turns and you have to weigh up what you want in the future."

Wallace's result in Pyeongchang was all the more remarkable after he recovered from a serious head injury six months before in training to compete.

In Beijing four years later, he became the first British male to land a quadruple-twisting triple back-flip.

The next Winter Olympics are in Milano Cortina, Italy, in February next year.

"With 2026 only a year away from now I wouldn't have wanted to go for it without giving it everything," Wallace added.

"I've been there, I've done it twice, I've broken the British record and to go one step further and put myself in the position to have that lucky day when you stand on top of that podium, I would need to put a bit more time and effort in.

"I think time has gone on where I won't be able to put myself in that position."

Wallace from Semley, Wiltshire, is the fifth generation of his family to compete at an Olympic Games - and said he had "scratched the itch" of competing for his country and had achieved "everything" he wanted to in the sport.