Ben Tudhope (born 13 December 1999) is an Australian

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

who has competed in para-snowboard cross at three

Winter Paralympics The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The ...

2014 to 2022. His selection at the age of 14 at the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Par ...

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 The 2018 Winter Paralympics (), the 12th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internation ...

. At the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), also known as XIII Paralympic Winter Games, commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), were an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter ...

, he won the bronze medal in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-LL2.

Personal

Ben Tudhope was born with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

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 Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

on the left side of his body and damage connecting nerve tissue vital for movement. He lives in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, and attended the

Sydney Church of England Grammar School The Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as Shore or Shore School) is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offer ...

. He has undertaken a Bachelor of Management – Sport Business at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

Career

Tudhope's older sister Annabel introduced him to snowboarding in 2009. Annabel has competed on the World Snowboard Tour, and his other sister Phoebe has competed for Australia in

mogul skiing Mogul skiing is a freestyle skiing, freestyle skiing competition consisting of one timed run of free skiing on a steep, heavily moguled course, stressing technical turns, aerial maneuvers and speed. Internationally, the sport is contested at the ...

. 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. In 2014, Tudhope was tall, and his French-made snowboard is long. He 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. He trains at

Perisher Ski Resort Perisher Ski Resort (known as Perisher Blue until 2009) is the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere. Located in the Australian Snowy Mountains, the resort is an amalgamation of four villages (Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Guthega, an ...

, and undertakes dryland training at Monster Skatepark in the Sydney suburb of

Homebush Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield. The name o ...

. In 2013, he was an Amelia McGuiness Australian Snowsports Development Foundation scholarship holder. Tudhope's selection for the

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

at the age of 14 meant that he became Australia's youngest Winter Paralympian, replacing

Mitchell Gourley Mitchell Gourley (born 2 June 1991) is an Australian Para-alpine skiing, Paralympic alpine skier who competed for Australia in the Downhill skiing, downhill, super-G, giant slalom, Slalom skiing, slalom and super combined events at four Winter ...

. He was the youngest competitor at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games from any country. 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 An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

. In 2017, Tudhope became part of the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

Scholarship and Mentoring Program which included him being mentored by former Australian rugby union captain

Nick Farr-Jones Nicholas Campbell Farr-Jones AM (born 18 April 1962) is a former Australian rugby union player, who played as a scrum-half. He debuted for the Australia national team during the 1984 tour of Britain and Ireland. Farr-Jones was named "Player ...

. At the

, Tudhope finished seventh in the

banked slalom Snowboard racing is a form of snowboarding where competitors attempt to obtain the fastest time down a course. Snowboard racing can be done against the clock, or by two or more competitors racing in a head-to-head format. The current Olympic sno ...

SB-LL2 and tenth in the

snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

SB-LL2. At the 2019 World Para Snowboard Championships, Pyha,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, Tudhope won the silver medal in Men's Snowboard Cross LL2 and finished fourth in the Men's Banked Slalom LL2. Tudhope won the silver medal in the men's snowboard cross SB-LL2 and the bronze medal in the men's dual banked slalom SB-LL2 event at the

2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships The 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships was an international disability sport competition held in Lillehammer, Norway from 8 to 23 January 2022. It was the inaugural edition of the World Para Snow Sports Championships with para-alpine skiin ...

held in

Lillehammer, Norway Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

At the

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Tudhope won the bronze medal in the men's snowboard cross SB-LL2 and finished ninth in the men's snowboard banked slalom SB-LL2 event. Tudehope won the gold medal in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-LL2 and the bronze medal in the Men's Dual Banked Snowboard SB-LL2 at the 2023

World Para Snowboard Championships The World Para Snowboard Championships were played for the first time at 2015. Locations Medal table Medalists Men's events ;Snowboard cross SB-LL1 ;Snowboard cross SB-LL2 ;Snowboard cross SB-UL ;Banked slalom SB-LL1 ;Banked slalom S ...

held at La Molina. At the end of the 2023/2024 season, Tudhope was second on the overall banked slalom and cross standings. He was second on the Para Snowboard Overall World Cup standings. At the 2025

held at Big White,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, he won the bronze medal in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-LL2 and finished fifth in the Men's Dual Banked Snowboard SB-LL2.

Awards and recognition

Snowboard cross medallists with medals on dais edit

*2014 – Flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony at the

*2019 – Sport NSW Young Athlete of the Year with a Disability *2020 – Crystal Globe as the overall SB-LL2 Snowboard Cross 2019–20 season Champion and the Crystal Globe as the most successful Para Snowboard athlete across all disciplines *2020 – Snow Australia Paralympic Athlete of the Year *2021 – Snow Australia Paralympic Athlete of the Year *2022 – Crystal Globe as the overall SB-LL2 Snowboard Cross 2021–22 season Champion and the Crystal Globe as the most successful Para Snowboard athlete across all disciplines *2022 – Joint Team Captain with

Melissa Perrine Melissa Perrine (born 21 February 1988) is a B2 classified visually impaired para-alpine skier from Australia. She has competed at the four Winter Paralympics from 2010 to 2022. At the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, she won three ...

of Australian Team at

*2022 – Flag bearer at Closing Ceremony at

*2022 – Snow Australia Paralympic Athlete of the Year *2022 – Paralympics Australia Male Athlete of the Year *2022 – New South Wales Institute of Sport Male Athlete of the Year *2022 – Australian Institute of Sport Male Para-athlete of The Year *2023 – Snow Australia Paralympic Male Athlete of the Year *2024 – Snow Australia Paralympic Male Athlete of the Year

References

External links

*
Ben Tudhope
at

World Para Snowboard The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tudhope, Ben 1999 births Living people Australian male snowboarders Cerebral palsy-category Paralympic competitors People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School People from Manly, New South Wales Paralympic snowboarders for Australia Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Paralympic medalists in snowboarding Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia X Games competitors 21st-century Australian sportsmen