Tanner Hall has become the most recognised freeskier in the world. The American is the first and only skier to take home a gold medal in every Winter X-Games since 1999.
In the 2004/05 season he dominated his sport with a first place finish in both the Winter X-Games Slopestyle and US Open Slopestyle competitions and a second place finish in the World Superpipe Championships, but in March 2005, the 22-year-old shattered both ankles and heel bones when he came up short on a 120-foot jump known as Chad's Gap, near Alta, Utah. One ankle was shattered so badly that a titanium plate was inserted to hold the bone together
Told he may never ski again, he could not train at all in the off-season, yet still made his way to the 2006 Winter X-Games, which fell within the Laureus World Sports Awards qualifying period.
Amazingly, he nailed all his tricks and soared high above the tube to take gold in the Superpipe. That same week, he won two prestigious Powder magazine Video and Reader Poll Awards - for Best Male Performance and, in recognition of his horrific accident, Worst Slam.
