Snowboarder’s mission for Winter Paralympics
Five years ago he was the cutest little athlete in Australia. Now snowboarder Ben Tudhope is a man on a mission.
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He was the cute-as-a-button kid who won hearts and helped turn snowboarding into one of the big hits of the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
Now five years on from his debut as Australia’s youngest ever Winter Paralympian — and with another Games under his belt in Korea last year — Ben Tudhope is a fiercely determined athlete on a medal mission.
The northern beaches snowboarder says two Games on he now feels he has the experience to seriously press for a medal at the next Winter Paralympics in Beijing in 2022.
Tudhope says he has learned to deal with the pressure of expectation and is ready to make his mark.
And driving him is the memory of crashing in the snowboard cross in PyeongChang.
“I guess coming off the disappointment of 2018 when I fell I have wanted to outdo my expectation on the snow. It’s really motivated me to do as well as I can,” Tudhope said, adding he was born with hemiplegic cerebral palsy which affect co-ordination and muscle movement on the left side of his body, and who finished 10th in snowboard cross in his debut Games.
“In 2018/19 I won the overall Crystal Globe and am I’m currently No.1. If I can keep that up and handle the pressure to the next Paralympics it will be great.
“I do feel it (the result in PyeongChang) has pushed me to a new level. I grew my snowboarding and my abilities to be able to cope with the pressure.
“I was missing the experience before. Now I have it.”
Tudhope said his ultimate goal was to win a gold medal in Beijing but understands his sport was unpredictable at the best of times.
“Anything can happen on the day, there are so many variables leading up to the next Paralympics,” he said.
“I like to focus on the things I can control.’’
Live at Manly with his family, Tudhope spends much of the year snowboarding both in Australia and overseas while studying for a degree in sport management.
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He said he was still working out how to snowboard with Cerebral Palsy.
“For me snowboarding with CP, I still struggle to work it out,’’ he said.
“I have been snowboarding all my life with my disability. I only ever see possibilities.
“If there is a certain movement or Im not able to get low enough, we work our way around and adapt.
“We try new positions. I may take longer than an able bodies athlete but it is about muscle memory and co-ordination.
“Everything I do in my life is a bit working a way around things to do.”
Tudhope is an ambassador for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance’s Steptember campaign which is now open for registrations and donations.