Ben Tudhope wins bronze medal behind Italy’s Emanuel Perathoner

Tudhope, who has hemiplegic cerebral palsy, became the only player on the Australian team to win a medal in defence, winning the only medal (bronze) in Beijing in 2022, en route to the Milan Cortina Games.

Therefore, he must have felt more pressure than ever. The competition season leading up to Cortina had produced mixed results and while Tudhope was at the Paralympics he was up against Italian local Emanuel Perathoner, who competed in Sochi and Pyeongchang at the Olympics.

Perathoner underwent total knee replacement surgery in 2021 after getting injured in training. He initially thought the idea of ​​competing in the Paralympics was funny.

“At first, I was joking with my physiotherapist about going to the Paralympics, but I never thought I’d be classified,” the Perathoner said ahead of this month’s Games. “An old teammate of mine talked to the Italian Paralympic Committee and that’s when it occurred to me to try it. [came].”

By the time Tudhope returned for its third Games in 2022, Perathoner had begun para-snowboarding and quickly became Tudhope’s toughest competition.

“This season hasn’t been the best for me. I’ve spent more time off the podium than on the podium. It’s been one of my worst in the last few seasons,” Tudhope said.

But the Sydney-born snowboarder managed to reach the podium in both events for the first time at the Paralympics in front of an excited crowd.

“Today was fun. The pressure was off. The expectation of getting a medal was off and it was fun to go out there and be a competitor and fight for the podium,” he said after Friday’s bank slalom.

He finished behind Perathoner and Switzerland’s Fabrice von Gruenigen, who also won gold in snowboard cross.

“I always work for gold. I always work to win. And Perathoner is a great competitor, but he’s not unbeatable. There have been occasions in the past where I’ve had it and I’ll continue to improve my skills, improve my snowboarding to be the best I can,” he said.

Loading

Now that his races are over and he now has a new mission to find the green and gold crowd packing into a city sports bar instead of blending into a mountain of white, Tudhope is happy to bid farewell to his fourth Games.

“I’m happy. It’s a great feeling to be here, to be at the Paralympic Games, to leave with two medals after being the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. What a dream the Games are for me,” he said.

“[If] More people see Paralympic snowboarding, Paralympic skiing and the Paralympic Games in general, and they may believe it’s something they should achieve; That’s why I’m here.”

This tag went to Cortina as a guest of the Australian Paralympic Games.

The Winter Paralympics are broadcast on Nine Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.