By Mark Staniforth, PA Sport, Salt Lake City

Eight days after breaking both his skis in a scary training accident which ruled him out of the giant slalom, Alain Baxter became Britain's first-ever Olympic alpine medallist.

Suddenly Baxter's years of living out of the back of a Volkswagen Passat and spending tens of thousands of pounds of his own money trawling the World Cup circuit have been repaid in emphatic fashion.

His bronze in the men's slalom will make the 28-year-old 'Highlander' an instant celebrity; the great blue-haired leader whom future generations of British skiers will seek to emulate.

Baxter grew up with no such hero. The best a skiing Briton had managed before the extraordinary developments at Deer Valley on Saturday was Gina Hathorn's fourth place in the women's slalom at Grenoble in 1968.

Martin Bell's eighth place in the men's downhill in Calgary in 1988 was Baxter's only benchmark, and he equalled that after his first run on the tough 'Know You Don't' course.

His second run was two seconds slower than his first and he dropped behind Frenchman Sebastien Amiez, with whom he had tied on the first run. The worst Baxter could do was finish ninth, but even Bell's modest record was temporarily out of reach.

"I thought I'd blown it," Baxter admitted.

He then watched with increasing bewilderment as the big names ahead of him struggled to cope with the tough conditions on the bottom section of the course.

Kjetil Andre Aamodt, already with two gold medals from these games, made a mess which dropped him to seventh. World Cup leader Ivica Kostelic of Croatia crashed out. When American favourite Bode Miller skied off the course and out of contention, Baxter had a medal in the bag.

"I was in the boot room getting my skis measured and I could just about see the big screen," Baxter said, the saltire still just about visible on the head which had caused much controversy at the start of the Games.

Baxter had been warned by British Olympic Association officials that it could be construed as a political statement. His response was to dye his whole head blue.

"I knew there were seven others who had been faster than me and I thought that unless I'd had a decent margin I didn't have much of a chance. I must have skied much better than I thought."

They were dancing in the streets from Aviemore to Lofer, where Baxter stays at the British team's training base for much of his season, and which is home to his Austrian coach Christian Schwaiger.

"Alain is better known in Austria than he is in Britain," Schwaiger said.

"The crowd was going nuts when he was at the start gate. They cheer for the Austrians and 'The Highlander'.

"I've been getting calls from Austrians all night. They are planning a big party in Lofer. It's going wild back there."

Baxter skied with a right knee injury he sustained in practice.

"I was skiing a steep section in the shade and I turned upside-down. I was flung about two metres from some trees but I was pretty lucky because I landed on my back.

"I twisted my knee and I was in a little bit of pain, but I fought through it."

Baxter's superb success will ensure he never again has to endure the hardship which almost provoked him to retire in 1996, the lure of a British League ice hockey contract almost too difficult to resist.

"I was having a hard time living out of a van for weeks on end and my results weren't really improving.

"My ranking went up to nearly 300 and I didn't think I was going anywhere. Luckily I had friends and family around me who persuaded me to carry on.

"What this medal means for me is all the years of hard work. I didn't grow up with much funding. It has got a lot better in the last three or four years."

Baxter's form this season had been less than impressive. Struggling to find a length of ski he felt comfortable with, he dropped from 11th to 28th in the world rankings. At one stage he used five different sets of skis in six races.

"I've struggled this year but I've always had the belief. I came here knowing that if I had two perfect runs I could come away with a medal, and that's what I did."

Great Britain's Chef de Mission Simon Clegg called Baxter's achievement "simply awesome" and added: "I witnessed something on Saturday which I never thought I would see."

The Scot's success is likely to spark a revolution in the way Britain's winter athletes are funded.

The British Ski and Snowboarding Federation currently receives £160,000 per year in funding from the exchequer, a significant drop in income from five years ago.

Nevertheless Schwaiger says a system is now in place to enable the top members of the British ski team to establish themselves on the world stage.

Youngster Ross Green was another notable success of these Games, placing 15th in the men's combined, while Baxter's half-brother Noel was 21st in the slalom.

It is the longer term future which worries Schwaiger.

"The system is now producing results but the future is not looking good if we don't sort out the junior programmes.

"We might have a stronger team in Turin in four years' time but after Turin I see nothing coming along.

"We need more funding to bring kids into the mountains and educate their coaches. We need to concentrate the resources on the right places at the right times."

Baxter celebrated his third place by treading the surprisingly well-trodden path of Britain's Olympic medallists, retiring with the British media to the downtown Dead Goat Saloon.

Baxter shifted uncomfortably on his stool as the bar was brought to a standstill by a replay of Baxter's run on the television screen.

His finish sparked raucous cheers and a round of applause. Baxter was asked to sign beer mats for the locals.

For The Highlander, and hopefully for his sport, things will never be quite the same again.