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Tudhope’s Moment Arrives On Busy Day At Beijing 2022

Tudhope’s Moment Arrives On Busy Day At Beijing 2022
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It’s easy to forget Ben Tudhope is only 22 years old.

When he gears up for Snowboard Cross finals at Beijing 2022 Games on Monday, in search of his first Paralympic medal, it will be the culmination of a Games journey that started before his voice had broken.

At the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, then aged just 14, he was not only the youngest athlete in Australia’s team, he was the youngest of all athletes at the Games. He finished 10th out of 33 competitors in the Snowboard Cross at Sochi and was given the privilege of carrying the Australian flag at the Closing Ceremony.

Four years later, at PyeongChang 2018, Tudhope again finished 10th in the SBX, and seventh in the Banked Slalom.

After those Games, the Finnish coach at the time Mikko Wendelin said he wanted to work with the Australian snowboarders.

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“We formed a team with Finland and a guy from Canada, who came on,” Tudhope said.

“It is an individual sport but we have this really special connection, being part of this international team. We bring out the best in each other and it’s a true kind of brotherhood.

“It’s a great training environment [in Finland] and it’s really unique. We go by the name of Team Unicorn.

It came out of nowhere but it’s about the fact that we come from diverse nations and are all about diversity and inclusion. So we come together and help each other, which I think is really great.”

It’s been great for Tudhope’s snowboarding. Working with teammates Matti Suur-Hamari of Finland and Canada’s Alex Massie, and under the coaching of Par Sundqvist after Wendelin’s sudden passing in 2019, Tudhope has become a genuine force in the sport.

At the 2019 World Para-snowboard Championships he won silver in the SBX and came fourth in the Banked Slalom. At the 2021 event, he won silver and bronze, respectively, before last month, after winning his fourth consecutive World Cup gold medal, he was awarded the prestigious Crystal Globe as the world’s best Para-snowboarder across all disciplines.

“I’m fortunate to represent my country in doing the thing I love most,” Tudhope said recently. “So it’ll be an absolute honour to put on the Paralympic uniform again in China and make Australia proud.”

Day three of Beijing 2022 is a big day also for Para-alpine skiers Mitchell Gourley and Patrick Jensen, who will back-up for the third consecutive day after the Super Combined event day was brought forward by organisers due to warming weather. Super Combined is a combination of a Super-G race on the speed run and a Slalom race on the technical run.

Jensen said after coming sixth in the Super-G on Sunday with guide Amelia Hodgson that he felt the snow was holding up well.

“It’s icier than what I would have expected for how warm it is,” he said. “It was uncomfortably warm up top of the hill but the snow is holding out really well.

“Everywhere else in the world that I’ve skied, when it’s warm like this the snow goes slushy and slow, bumpy and hectic. Here it’s kept a perfect layer. And honestly, it’s bluebird and sunny. I feel like I’m back in Australia.”

Gourley is keen to get into the more technical disciplines.

“I wasn’t really fighting for a medal in the speed events … but, on the tech side, we’ve been able to get a bit more volume in and I’m feeling really good about my GS skiing,” he said.

“Hopefully that carries through into some solid Super-G tomorrow. My slalom is a mythical beast that shows up when it needs to sometimes and sometimes goes missing, but hopefully tomorrow is one of those good days.”

Watch the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games live and free on 7plus from 4-13 March.

By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 7 March 2022
Image: OIS