Ben Tudhope

Ben Tudhope

Ben 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 (age 17) St Leonards, New South Wales
Height	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Para-snowboarding
Disability class	SB-LL
Medal record Men's snowboarding Representing  Australia Winter X Games 2016 Aspen Snowboarder X Adaptive

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 Mitchell Gourley. He was the youngest competitor at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games from any country.

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 He lives in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, and attends Shore Grammar School SCEGS.

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. 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 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. He trains at Perisher Ski Resort, and undertakes dryland training at Monster Skatepark in the Sydney suburb of Homebush. In 2013, he was an Amelia McGuiness Australian Snowsports Development Foundation scholarship holder.

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. 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.