A stomach complaint prevented Adam Hall from producing his best in the slalom at the Paralympics in Sochi yesterday.
The stomach problem, which struck Hall on Thursday morning (local time), hindered the 2010 defending champion in his two runs.
French skier Vincent Gauthier-Manuel and Russian skier Alexey Bugaev, who were early in the order of racing, posted exceptionally fast times in the men's standing class, giving Hall, who was the 13th to start, plenty to chase.
His run was clean but not fast enough to get near the top and his time put him into seventh place, 3.02sec off Bugaev's lead after run one.
With the second course set, run two started under floodlights and Hall was the ninth skier to start.
A smooth and controlled run through the top half of the slalom course had Hall tracking well, as he made easy work of the first gates, but a slight falter near the end cost him some time, finishing the day in seventh place.
Hall received medical attention after his two runs in a quest to get ready for the super G section of the super combined competition, which was delayed due to weather conditions. The super G component was to be held this morning (NZ time).
''Adam is obviously hugely disappointed, but we are seeking medical advice, both from Russia and New Zealand, and hope that he will be able to make a swift recovery in time for the super G,'' chef de mission Ashley Light said.
Bugaev took the gold medal ahead of Gauthier-Manuel and Alexander Alyabyev, of Russia.
After finishing his first run in 16th place, sitting skier Corey Peters did not finish his second run, skiing out of the course mid-way through the run.
With only 16 of the 41 starters in this class finishing, it was a challenging day on the snow for the riders.
Fellow New Zealander Carl Murphy also missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the snowboard cross last night in a time of 54.48sec. Americans filled the podium, Evan Strong winning in 51.62sec ahead of Michael Shea (51.89sec) and Keith Gabel (53.61sec).
