By Andy Hampson, PA Sport

Britain's latest Olympic hero Alain Baxter was born to ski.

The Salt Lake City slalom bronze medallist was named after a star of the slopes - Frenchman Alain Penz - and grew up on the snow of the country's only recognised pistes in the Cairngorm.

Both his parents Iain and Sue are former national-level skiers and he inherited all his family's love of the sport, along with younger half-brother Noel and snowboarding cousin Lesley McKenna, both fellow competitors at Salt Lake City.

Baxter grew up a talented sportsman in Aviemore and also excelled at both shinty and ice hockey.

He was even offered a professional ice hockey contract at the formation of the British Superleague in 1996, but declined the offer to concentrate on the sport he left school at 15 to pursue.

Ice hockey remains part of his life, with Scottish First Division side Perth Panthers retaining his registration, but Alpine skiing, and more particularly the twists and turns of the slalom, was always his first love.

Baxter joined the British ski team in 1991 and the road to the top has been a long and arduous one.

Spending most his time training in Europe, there were times when he often considered quitting due to lack of funding but the man from the highlands stuck with the sport, impressing at National Championships and winning a place in the Olympic squad for Nagano four years ago.

He made little impact amongst the world's elite, finishing 31st in the giant slalom and missing a gate in the slalom - but the sport's technological revolution of the late 1990s transformed his career.

The new shorter 'carving' skis took the sport to a new level and Baxter was one of many to take full advantage.

After linking up with new coach Christian Schwalger, the 2000-01 season proved his breakthrough year, with 10 top-10 finishes in the World Cup, including a career-best third at Are, Sweden, in March.

He went into the current season ranked number 63 in the world and with high hopes, but initial results proved disappointing.

That all changed in dramatic style as he produced a sensational second run to squeeze onto the podium in third place behind and Jean-Pierre Vidal and Sebastien Amiez at Deer Valley.

His slalom preparation had started controversially after the British Olympic Association requested that he remove the cross of St Andrew dyed into his hair as it could be construed a political statement. Instead he dyed it completely blue.

But whilst blue maybe the colour of his hair, it is far from how he will be feeling after skiing his way into British sporting history by claiming the country's first-ever Alpine medal.