MORGAN’S A MARVEL
EVERYONE was Billy’s mate as party-loving snowboarder Billy Morgan hit the town last night.
Four years ago he famously partied with a toilet seat around his neck at a Vodka-fuelled party in Sochi.
Now he’s wearing a bronze medal instead. “It’s a bit of an upgrade,” he joked.
But while Morgan was busy getting the party started curling skip Eve Muirhead was forced hold to back the tears as she and her team missed out on a podium place after defeat in their bronze medal match to Japan.
Morgan might be a bit of a joker but snowboarding’s big air is a serious business – one slight mistake and bones can be broken.
Considered an outsider for a podium, Morgan tried something he’s never completed in a competition before and it paid off – and that kicked off the mother of all parties.
“I come from the last generation of snowboarders who get away partying,” he admitted.
“I use it as a distraction. I get scared a lot and I worry about it and it does help to have a couple of drinks, relax and not think about the scary stuff I have to do.”
Britain’s snowboarding coach Hamish McKnight was the first to congratulate Morgan as he was mobbed by team-mates.
And you get the feeling Billy has made him work for his money.
He said: “Billy certainly shows you don’t have to be a coldhearted machine to be an Olympic medallist. He parties at the right times and the wrong times too.
“The problem is really that his definition of ‘party’ is a bit further than anyone else’s.”
Meanwhile, Muirhead (above) just wanted to cry after losing out in the women’s curling bronze medal match.
Muirhead went for broke with her final stone of a tense and attritional match with Japan and missed by a fraction, meaning they’d be no repeat of her medal four years ago.
She said: “I had the chance and it didn’t come off. It’s going to take a bit of time to reflect.”