Heading into the final heat, Parsons was in third place but there was just a few hundredths-of-a-second separating second and fourth.
Olympic Athlete from Russia Nikita Tregubov went before Parsons and the Briton was unable to run faster than him, meaning it was out of his hands with two riders to go.
Emotion was etched on Parsons’ face as he realised he had to hope for a mistake from Martins Durkurs.
The Latvian made an error in the early stages and as he flashed through the speed traps, hope was building the Briton may sneak into the medal places.
And as Durkurs flashed over the line, it confirmed Parsons’ dreams as the former was unable to beat the Briton’s time.
Parsons went from utter despair to jubilation in the space of a couple of minutes and the delight was etched on his face once the realisation settled in.
It was the first medal in the men’s skeleton for Great Britain since 1948.
Lizzy Yarnold is among the favourites to clinch gold in the women’s skeleton, which gets underway later today, having won back in Sochi.
Olympic gold medalist Amy Williams believes Yarnold and fellow Great Britain team-mate Laura Deas will now take great courage from Parsons’ result.
“Lizzy Yarnold and Laura Deas will have watched this, I’m guessing, in their rooms,” Williams said on BBC.
“To know your team-mate has got a medal is an awesome feeling, it’s a medal for your team and your nation and that is going to spur them on.
“Those girls have had an incredible week’s training. They put down the fastest runs in training and they both want to come out, and have the skills, knowledge and experience, to bring home medals.
“Nothing is impossible at the Olympic Games.”