{"id":527162,"date":"2026-03-08T17:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/527162\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T17:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:35:11","slug":"courageous-tudhope-wins-sensational-snowboard-silver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/527162\/","title":{"rendered":"Courageous Tudhope Wins Sensational Snowboard Silver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Tudhope\u2019s day at the snowboard cross ended in\u00a0triumph,\u00a0but\u00a0nearly began with disaster.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The four-time Paralympian won the silver medal in the SB-LL2,\u00a0charging\u00a0to second place behind Italy\u2019s Emanual Perathoner in a thrilling Big Final at Cortina Para Snowboard Park on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0he\u00a0revealed after the race, his campaign came perilously close to being upended by a shoulder injury\u00a0sustained\u00a0as he catapulted from the gate in his first race of the day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really hard, my shoulder actually popped out in that first\u00a0heat pulling out of the start gate,\u201d\u00a0Tudhope\u00a0said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just\u00a0kind of a\u00a0click. I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0really know what happened. It was just a\u00a0click out\u00a0and\u00a0in and then\u00a0\u2018boom\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe medical team up top\u00a0(of the course)\u00a0handled me so well. We decided I can keep on going after that injury.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0hurt, but to\u00a0actually go\u00a0through that, to go through the process of going, \u2018Oh my God, I\u2019ve got this injury\u2019,\u00a0but then being able to\u00a0go through the rounds and\u00a0get this medal\u00a0is\u00a0insane.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom that, I was in focus mode the whole time.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0normally\u00a0pretty friendly,\u00a0pretty happy, but up top, I was\u00a0not\u00a0\u2018in my head\u2019,\u00a0but I was focused. I\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0smiley Ben, but now I am.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The medal was Australia\u2019s first of the Milano Cortina campaign and Tudhope\u2019s second Paralympic medal in a career that has earned the Australian\u00a0snowboard star\u00a0great\u00a0respect\u00a0and friendship\u00a0from his peers domestically and around the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tudhope rode smoothly and efficiently to win both his quarter final and\u00a0semi final. Of the Big Final, he said:\u00a0\u201cI thought I could tail and draft the Italian\u00a0guy who ended up winning, but I made a mistake in turn\u00a0four into five. I let him slip, he got ahead\u00a0and, on this course,\u00a0if you make\u00a0one\u00a0mistake,\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0pretty much out\u00a0of it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo,\u00a0I kind of knew it would be\u00a0really hard\u00a0to get him, but the guys behind me, I was like,\u00a0\u2018Oh, no, they\u2019re coming up fast\u2019, so I just stuck to my guns,\u00a0stuck\u00a0to\u00a0my game plan, and let it ride on. To\u00a0actually get\u00a0this medal is\u00a0insane.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to get it done and keep Australian Paralympic Winter sport\u2019s legacy going\u00a0\u2013 I think we\u2019ve medalled at every single Games since \u201992 \u2013 I\u2019m proud to be an Aussie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tudhope was gracious towards Perathoner, the reigning World Champion in snowboard cross and banked slalom, and only the second athlete to compete at both the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games. In 2021,\u00a0Perathoner\u00a0was involved in a severe crash that caused\u00a0multiple leg\u00a0fractures\u00a0and he was later classified for Paralympic sport.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0kind of \u2018the man\u2019,\u201d Tudhope said.\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0been on tour for four years and\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0got a rich history in snowboarding before this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0progressing the sport. Everyone has looked at how he rides and everyone is more competitive for him being here.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0good for the sport.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tudhope started his Paralympic career as a 14-year-old at the Sochi 2014 Games, where he was the youngest athlete from any country. His bronze medal in snowboard cross at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics was Australia\u2019s only medal of the Games. The following year, he won gold at the World Championships in Spain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI just go into every\u00a0race the exact same,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it came to the Paralympics, a big event, it wasn\u2019t like I was anticipating it, I wasn\u2019t \u2018waiting\u2019, I just followed the exact same routine up there, listen to my music, be in my zone and, to come away and get it done is\u00a0absolutely incredible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSnowboarding is\u00a0my love. I love snowboarding so much.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0just grateful.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0the only word I\u00a0can find to\u00a0describe being out here.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Paralympic snowboarding has been on a journey. From 2014 to now,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0got so much more professional, so much more competitive, and to be part of that change, to see it evolve and grow, it feels awesome.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing this crowd here,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0insane.\u00a0In\u00a02014, we\u00a0filled\u00a0less than half\u00a0the\u00a0stadium, Beijing\u00a0we had nothing because of Covid. To see everyone here, not even just\u00a0from Australia, not even my friends\u00a0and family, but everyone\u00a0\u2013\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0electric.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tudhope and the rest of the Para snowboard squad will compete\u00a0in the banked slalom event next Saturday, March 14.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia<\/p>\n

Published: 9 March 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Tudhope\u2019s day at the snowboard cross ended in\u00a0triumph,\u00a0but\u00a0nearly began with disaster.\u00a0\u00a0 The four-time Paralympian won the silver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-527162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}