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 Paralympics in Whistler.

Dunedin Mayor Peter 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 Chin's office with guidelines about how the event should be held, and who should attend.

He told the audience: "You are all here because she wanted you to be here."

Hall, 22, who has spina bifida, won New Zealand's first Winter Paralympics gold medal in the since Salt Lake City in 2002.

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.

Hall said: "To have the whole community behind me is just fantastic."


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April 2010: New Zealand Paralympic gold medallist in mourning after mother killed in car crash