Ben Tudhope

Ben Tudhope (born 13 December 1999) is an Australian Paralympian who competed in para-snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. His selection at the age of 14 meant that he became Australia's youngest Winter Paralympian, replacing Michael Milton. He was the youngest competitor at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games from any country. He also competed at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

Ben Tudhope
Tudhope was given the honour of carrying the flag for Australia at the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games
Personal information
Nationality Australia
Born (1999-12-13) 13 December 1999
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportPara-snowboarding
Disability classSB-LL
Medal record
Men's para snowboard
Representing  Australia
World Championships
2019 Pyha Men's Snowboard Cross LL2
Winter X Games
2016 Aspen Snowboarder X Adaptive

Personal

Ben Tudhope was born with cerebral palsy due to a lack of oxygen to the brain during his birth and damage caused to the white matter in his brain, which caused hemiplegia on the left side of his body and damage connecting nerve tissue vital for movement.[1][2] He lives in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, and attends the Sydney Church of England Grammar School.[3]

Career
Tudhope at Copper Mountain in March 2014

Tudhope's older sister Annabel introduced him to snowboarding in 2009.[3] Annabel has competed on the World Snowboard Tour, and his other sister Phoebe has competed for Australia in mogul skiing.[4] His Winter Paralympics path began in 2011 when Peter Baff, the head coach of Perisher's Winter Sports Club alerted Peter Higgins, Australia's Paralympic snowboard team head coach, of his ability even though he was not tall.[2]

In 2014, Tudhope was 150 centimetres (4 ft 11 in) tall, and his French-made snowboard is 141 centimetres (56 in) long. Ben competed in the 2013 European Cup to qualify for the 2014 Winter Paralympics. Due to his age, his mother Melissa has accompanied him to overseas competitions.[2] He trains at Perisher Ski Resort, and undertakes dryland training at Monster Skatepark in the Sydney suburb of Homebush.[5] In 2013, he was an Amelia McGuiness Australian Snowsports Development Foundation scholarship holder.[6]

Tudhope's selection for the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi at the age of 14 meant that he became Australia's youngest Winter Paralympian, replacing Mitchell Gourley.[3] He was the youngest competitor at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games from any country.[7] He finished 10th out of 33 competitors in the Men's Para-snowboard Cross, and was chosen to carry the Australian flag at the closing ceremony.[7]

In 2017, Tudhope became part of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program which included him being mentored by former Australian rugby union captain Nick Farr-Jones.[8]

At the 2018 Winter Paralympics, he finished seventh in the banked slalom SB-LL2 and tenth in the snowboard cross SB-LL2.[9][10]

At the 2019 World Para Snowboard Championships, Pyha, Finland, Tudhope won the silver medal in Men's Snowboard Cross LL2 and finished fourth in the Men's Banked Slalom LL2.[11]

Recognition
  • 2019 - Sport NSW Young Athlete of the Year with a Disability[12]
  • 2020 - Snow Australia Paralympic Athlete of the Year [13]

References
  1. "Ben Tudhope". Australian Paralympic Committee Athlete Profiles. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  2. Kemp, Emma. "Youngster targeting a spot on Sochi team". Megaform, 20 November 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  3. Cowley, Rowan (5 February 2014). "Shore student Ben Tudhope Australia's youngest winter Paralympian at 14". Mosman Daily. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  4. "Ben Tudhope". International Paralympic Committee Alpine Skiing Profiles. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  5. "13-year-old Ben Tudhope aims for Sochi". Mountain Watch. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  6. "The AMASDF 2013 Scholarship Holders". NSW Snow Sports. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  7. Paxinos, Stathi (17 March 2014). "Sochi Winter Paralympics end in style". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  8. "Teen stars receive guidance from Hall of Fame members". Sport Australia Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  9. "Australian Paralympic Winter Team for PyeongChang 2018 announced". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  10. "Ben Tudhope". 2018 Winter Paralympics Official site. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  11. "SSA Weekend Wrap | 1 April". Ski and Snowboard Australia website. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  12. "Perry And Parker Headline NSW Sports Awards Success". Sport NSW website. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  13. "Tudhope wins Paralympic Athlete of the Year Award". Paralympics Australia website. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
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