Back To News
The legacy of Para-snowboard star Matthew Robinson has played out thoughtfully and touchingly since the dreadful incident that cut short his life.
At the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, barely two weeks after his death, the Australian Team wore ‘We Ride For Matty’ acknowledgments on their uniform, starting a tradition that has featured at each Games since and is part of the planning for Milano-Cortina 2026.
Then there was the establishment of the Matthew Robinson Scholarship, a collaboration between the Robinson family, Disabled Wintersport Australia and Paralympics Australia, which has helped emerging Para-athletes with the costs involved in winter sport, such as travel, equipment, training camps and coaching.
Yet, on the 10th anniversary of Robinson’s passing on February 21, 2014, perhaps the most palpable example of Australia’s first World Cup snowboard gold medallist’s legacy is the athlete he mentored and who seemingly has gone on to embody Robinson’s positive spirit, selflessness and joy of life.
Ben Tudhope was just 14 and preparing to compete at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics when his big-brother figure suffered neck and spinal injuries in a race accident while competing at La Molina in Spain.
After eight days in hospital in Barcelona, Robinson was cleared to be transported by Air Ambulance to Melbourne. Tragically, during a refuelling stop in Kuwait, he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
Among many left grieving were Robinson’s parents, Stephen and Carol Ann, with whom Paralympics Australia has maintained contact, especially before and during each Winter Games. After the PyeongChang Paralympics in 2018 – where Simon Patmore won Australia’s first gold medal in Para-snowboard – several staff visited the Robinsons’ home to present a framed Australian Winter Paralympic Team Jacket, share a meal and spend time with the family.
Much like it had agonised Robinson’s relatives, the impact on Tudhope was profound. In the years since, the now-three time Paralympian won Crystal Globes, World Cups, Paralympic bronze and was co-captain of Australia’s team at Beijing. But, when he finally won his maiden World Championship gold medal at La Molina last year, the venue where his great mate had fallen, the continuing importance of Robinson in Tudhope’s world was evident.
“Nine years ago my teammate died here, Matty Robinson,” Tudhope said, welling with emotion in a post-race interview.
“I saw two birds flying over today – one’s for him and one’s for my late coach Mikko Wendelin. … I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Australian Paralympic Team Chef de Mission for Milano-Cortina, Ben Troy, was at La Molina when Tudhope won that special gold medal.
“It was a sombre moment,” Troy said. “I can only imagine what Ben was feeling, to have succeeded at the place where he’d endured such a terrible personal loss when he was just a kid starting out in the sport.
“But that’s the impact Matty had on people. He was and continues to be deeply loved and respected and he paved the way for people like Ben to have a career competing for Australia in snowboarding.
“It’s been 10 years now since we lost Matty but he remains very firmly in the hearts of everyone involved in our Paralympic Winter Team.”
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 21 February 2024
