I MIGHT LOOK A MADMAN BUT MY GOAL IS TO INSPIRE KIDS TO FOLLOW ME

JAMES WOODS will take another walk on the wild side when he bids for Slopestyle gold in PyeongChang in the early hours of tomorrow.

The 26-year-old freestyle skier from Sheffield will showcase his full box of tricks, kicks and flicks on the rails, half-pipes and jumps at Phoenix Park.

And even though he would obviously love to win the event, he insists the idea of putting down a set of runs which inspire even one other youngster to follow their dream will be reward enough.

Woods (right) said: “Winning is great – you don’t get to this point without being competitive. But I don’t do this for winning. I don’t do this for fame or money. I do this because it’s the thing I want to do the most.

“If I can inspire one person to get outside, to find something they love, to follow their dream, then it’s mission accomplished.” Woods, who finished fifth in the Slopestyle event in Sochi, where it made its Olympic debut, knows that some spectators will think he’s crazy to try the stunts he pulls off (left). “You start on the tiny little jumps and you work your way up with baby steps until the point where it’s crazy, madman stuff,” he admitted.

“I’ve been a professional skier for over 10 years now, winning events at the highest levels and competing all over the world, but when I was 15 or 16 I was on my own, homeless. I had nowhere to go, I was just bumming around, trying get money to eat.

“So it’s pretty crazy where we are now.

“I was told many times that ‘No-one wants to pay money to see a kid from Sheffield ski,’ but I never truly believed that.”