![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MC26_XC-Classic10km_Parker_627-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMilano Cortina 2026 dual medallist,\u00a0Para snowboarder\u00a0Ben Tudhope\u00a0has been crowned Australia\u2019s Paralympian of the Year at a ceremony\u00a0hosted by Paralympics Australia\u00a0in Melbourne on\u00a0Thursday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Competing at his fourth Paralympic Winter Games, Tudhope \u2013 who was one of Australia\u2019s Opening Ceremony flag bearers at the Games \u2013 won the silver medal in the snowboard cross SB-LL2 and captured bronze in the banked slalom SB-LL2.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think a lot of people have won the Paralympian of the Year twice, so it\u2019s an absolute honour to be part of Australian Paralympic history and to be such a profound member of the Winter Mob,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Tudhope, who was\u00a0also the 2022 Paralympian of the Year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been so many amazing athletes who have come before me\u00a0in both the Summer and Winter team. To be recognised and honoured\u00a0in such an incredible way like this, it takes my breath away.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMilano Cortina \u2013 could we just take a second to talk about it? It was an absolute dream Games of mine, from holding the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony to winning the silver and bronze medals. The memories, the highlights, everything there will stay with me for the rest of my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tudhope\u00a0was earlier named Male Athlete of the Year, while Lauren Parker\u00a0\u2013\u00a0who was\u00a0Australia\u2019s 2024 Paralympian of the Year\u00a0\u2013 was awarded Female Athlete of the Year after her stunning\u00a0debut Winter Games,\u00a0where\u00a0she competed in Para cross-country skiing and Para biathlon,\u00a0and secured four top 10\u00a0results.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GEPA-20260307-101-147-0064-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Para snowboarder Aaron McCarthy won Rookie of the Year and Para snowboard\u00a0Head\u00a0Coach Nickie Rodger claimed Coach\u00a0of the Year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026_Biathlon-XC_Launch_26.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Para Nordic skier Matt Brumby\u00a0received\u00a0the\u00a0Uncle\u00a0Kevin Coombs\u00a0Spirit\u00a0of the Games\u00a0Award, which was presented by\u00a0Mr Coombs\u2019 daughter, Rose Falla.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be any prouder of what this amazing team achieved in Milano Cortina,\u201d Chef de Mission Ben Troy said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was so much to celebrate \u2013 our second-largest\u00a0team to compete at the\u00a0Winter\u00a0Games,\u00a0our first Indigenous Winter Paralympian, our youngest ever female Winter Paralympian, our return to\u00a0the Para Nordic sports after 20 years, and so much more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0extremely difficult to succeed\u00a0at\u00a0the Winter Paralympics, especially coming from Australia, but\u00a0each and every\u00a0member of this team\u00a0performed brilliantly and made millions of Australians proud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0want to\u00a0congratulate all the nominees and award winners and thank\u00a0the whole squad for their efforts at Milano Cortina.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The night also featured the induction of three towering figures in the Australian Paralympic Movement to the Paralympics Australia Hall of Fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Para alpine skier Bart Bunting, who won two gold medals and a silver medal at Salt Lake City 2002\u00a0and competed at Vancouver 2010, was inducted as an Athlete Member\u00a0alongside Summer Games athlete Chris Scott.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of Australia\u2019s greatest Para cyclists, Scott won\u00a0six gold, two silver and two bronze medals\u00a0across six Paralympic Games between 1988 and 2008.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also inducted to the Hall of Fame was celebrated administrator Nick Dean, who\u00a0was Chef de Mission\u00a0of\u00a0the Australian Paralympic Winter Team at four Games\u00a0and Assistant Chef de Mission at three Games,\u00a0as well as\u00a0Assistant Chef de Mission at\u00a0two Summer Games.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Dean was also a long-serving Board Director at what was then known as the Australian Paralympic Committee, including as Vice President from 2000 to 2013.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Paralympics Australia Chief Executive Cameron Murray\u00a0said the night was a chance to\u00a0honour key contributors to the Australian Paralympic Movement and reflect on a successful\u00a0Winter Paralympics\u00a0campaign.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNights like this\u00a0are what it\u2019s all about,\u201d Mr Murray said. \u201cCelebrating\u00a0outstanding performances, incredible\u00a0dedication\u00a0and\u00a0inspirational resilience\u00a0\u2013 the\u00a0very best\u00a0of Australian Paralympic sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also a chance for us to say thank you to\u00a0our great supporters, including\u00a0the Federal\u00a0and State and Territory\u00a0Governments, the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Institute of Sport,\u00a0and our Member Organisations including Snow Australia and Biathlon Australia, with whom we worked so closely throughout this campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a charity organisation,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0also an opportunity\u00a0for Paralympics Australia\u00a0to\u00a0acknowledge\u00a0our\u00a0major benefactors and the countless everyday Australians who donated to Paralympics Australia. Their support is instrumental to our work to\u00a0create\u00a0opportunities\u00a0and\u00a0build\u00a0pathways for people with a disability to realise their sporting dreams.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
WINNERS AND NOMINEES\u00a0<\/p>\n
Paralympian of the Year\u00a0\u2013 Winner: Ben Tudhope\u00a0<\/p>\n
Male Athlete of the Year\u00a0\u2013 Winner: Ben Tudhope\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nominees: Ben Tudhope, Josh Hanlon<\/p>\n
Female Athlete of the Year\u00a0\u2013 Winner: Lauren Parker\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nominees: Lauren Parker, Georgia Gunew<\/p>\n
Rookie of the Year\u00a0\u2013 Winner: Aaron McCarthy\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nominees: Aaron McCarthy, Georgia Gunew, Dave Miln<\/p>\n
Coach of the Year\u00a0\u2013 Winner: Nickie Rodger\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nominees: Nickie Rodger, Ali Bombardier, Kaspar Wirz<\/p>\n
Uncle\u00a0Kevin Coombs\u00a0Spirit of the Games\u00a0Award\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Winner: Matt Brumby\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hall of Fame Inductees:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nick Dean \u2013 Associate Member\u00a0
Bart Bunting (Para alpine\u00a0skiing) \u2013 Athlete Member\u00a0
Chris Scott (Para cycling) \u2013 Athlete Member\u00a0<\/p>\n
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia<\/p>\n
Published: 9 July 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Milano Cortina 2026 dual medallist,\u00a0Para snowboarder\u00a0Ben Tudhope\u00a0has been crowned Australia\u2019s Paralympian of the Year at a ceremony\u00a0hosted by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-789224","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\/789224","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=789224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}