City wakeboarding star Balladon wins bronze medal at World Championships

Alexis Balladon realised a dream when she secured a bronze medal at the World Cable Wakeboarding Championships in Paris.

The 40-year-old from Milton Keynes missed out on a silver by a very narrow margin in the Masters Women’s category after just being edged out by a British team-mate.

Alexis who has always loved water sports since her time spent at Willen lake summer camps, moved on to firstly snowboarding at Xscape and then to wake boarding, again at Willen.

While at University in California she was the only English girl to ever compete in the University water sports team and it was there that she honed her competitive skills. She now trains at both Xtreme Wake and Box End Park.

Alexis was in second place after a thrilling first round where both English women pulled out all their tricks, including dangerous somersaults and back rolls while riding at speeds over 25 mph.

In the second round with both women going flat out for extra height in their rolls and somersaults both fell and Alexis slipped from second to a narrow third place beaten by just 1.66 points. 

She said afterwards she was thrilled to get a podium finish and will now redouble her efforts for the next World Championships in two years time.