Paralympic gold medallist Adam Hall was feted at a civic reception at the Municipal Chambers in Dunedin, for an accomplishment Mayor Peter Chin said had provided inspiration to everyone in the city.
The event was held in the shadow of Hall's mother Gayle's death in a car crash last week, just days after Hall returned with the gold medal he won in the men's standing slalom at the Winter Paralympics in Canada.
Mr Chin said that had the potential to cast a pall over the event, but "the Halls are made of stronger stuff".
Gayle Hall had an important influence on the reception, despite her death.
She had provided Mr Chin's office with guidelines about how the event should be held, and who should attend.
"You are all here because she wanted you to be here."
The reception heard tributes to Adam Hall's commitment to training, the thousands of hours of work he had put in, and his win over athletes from countries that were the giants of alpine sport.
All that from what chief executive of the New Zealand Academy of Sport (South Island) Kereyn Smith described as " a normal everyday guy" from an Outram farm.
Hall talked of his fall on the slalom, which had "raised the blood pressure", the support he got from those around him, and he also paid tribute to the work of his mother.
"To have the whole community behind me is just fantastic," he said.
