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Ben Tudhope has dedicated his four medals at the latest World Para-snowboard World Cup in La Molina, Spain, to the late Australian Para-snowboarder Matthew Robinson, who passed away after a crash in La Molina in February 2014.

Tudhope, who joined the Australian Para-snowboard team as a 10-year-old, is one of the world’s top riders in the SB-LL2 class, and says that he owes that success to Robinson.

“He [Robinson] was a Team Leader, so everything that he did, we followed,” Tudhope said. “I met him when I was 10 years old, so it was at that crucial stage of my development, and I definitely learned a lot off him. He was that role model who really took me to the top level of the sport.”

In La Molina, Tudhope won a medal in each of his four races – a gold and silver medal in the men’s snowboard cross SB-LL2, and a gold and bronze medal in the men’s banked slalom SB-LL2, and is now a leading medal contender ahead of the 2019 World Para-snowboard World Championships, which will be held on 26-31 March in Pyhä, Finland.

“It means so much. It’s a special moment, especially winning my first ever border cross gold medal in his name. That’s the event he fell in. To ride in his name and to honour him as much as I can is truly special to me,” Tudhope said.

“Every time I do come back here, it does bring back really solid and hard memories for me that I really have to fight. I ride in his legacy now, and he would want me to do this and do the best that I can.

“I love him terribly. I love him and I love everything about him, so it’s great to live in his name. Every day I do ride for Matty.”

By World Para-snowboard
Posted: 12/03/2019